•:,. : •..:•::: ;: ....v.-.v....... :-.- :
UCSB LIBRARY
UNCENSORED LETTERS
FROM THE DARDANELLES
SOLDIERS' TALES OF THE
GREAT WAR
Each Volume cr. 8vo, cloth,
35. 6d. net.
I. WITH MY REGIMENT. By " PLA-
TOON COMMANDER."
II. DIXMUDE. The Epic of the French
Marines. Oct. - Nov., 1914. By
CHARLES LE GOFFIC. Illustrated
III. IN THE FIELD (1914-15). The
Impressions of an Officer of Light
Cavalry.
IV. UNCENSORED LETTERS FROM
THE DARDANELLES. Notes of
a French Army Doctor. Illustrated
V. PRISONER OF WAR. By ANDR£
WARNOD. Illustrated
VI. "CONTEMPTIBLE." By "CASU-
ALTY."
VII. ON THE ANZAC TRAIL. By
" ANZAC."
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
21 BEDFORD STREET, W.C.
THE DOCTOR AT THE DOOR OF HIS TENT ON THE CUFF
AT SEDD-EL-BAHR.
UNCENSORED
LETTERS FROM THE
DARDANELLES
WRITTEN TO HIS ENGLISH WIFE BY
A FRENCH MEDICAL OFFICER OF LE
CORPS EXPEDITIONNAIRE D ORIENT
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
London: William Hnnemann, 1916.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
IF the time is distant when an accurate account can be
written of the tragic campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula
or a just estimate made of its influence on the course of the
great war, only in the present can be recorded the freshly
remembered experiences of the individual soldier, only
now can be chronicled what is for many of us more
fascinating than the balanced scroll of history — the
influence of mighty events and emotions on character.
As a contribution to the study of men under unheard-of
hardships and disappointments I have translated these
letters. They abound in tributes to the valour and
tenacity of the French soldier and his English ally; but
they are chiefly valuable as a mirror of the soul of a
man going through the great ordeal of war.
The two greatest passions of men, love and war, are at
this time mingled in the breasts of thousands of our
soldiers. How can they be separated if a true picture
is to be given ? My husband is only typical of all men
fighting for us, and undergoing the same hardships and
the same sensations; and I am glad of this opportunity
which may rouse to a still higher degree all our admira-
tion for them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FAOB
I. BlZERTA AND TUNIS ..... I
II. THE ISLES OF GREECE • . . 10
III. RAMLEH AND LEMNOS . . . .18
IV. THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY ... 36
V. THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH . . 45
(FROM THE SHIP)
VI. THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH (ON SHORE) 58
VII. SEDD-BL-BAHR ...... 73
VIII. SIEGE WARFARE 116
IX. IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS . . 147
X. SALONIKA AND SERBIA . . . .184
XI. RETREAT AND RETURN .... 238
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The doctor at the door of his tent on the cliff at Sedd-el-Bahr
Frontispiece
At Ramleh Camp, near Alexandria 24
Zouaves digging in foreground at Ramleh 24
A march on the road to Aboukir ...... 25
The review of the Corps Expe"ditionnaire d'Orient by General
d'Amade. 25
The Jeanne <TArc from the Savoie . .•«•... 48
The Askold, and in front a transport of troops to be landed at
Koum Kaleh 48
From the Savoie. The artillery is disembarked and towed to
Koum Kaleh . . . . . «... 49
On the Savoie. A gun going to fire on Koum Kaleh . 49
Map of the Dardanelles . . . . . -5*
The French auxiliary cruiser Savoif, before Koum Kaleh . . 72
Wounded being hoisted on board the Savoie . ... 72
The camp of the French regiments at Sedd-el-Bahr ... 73
A view of the River Clyde and the camp taken from the west
platform of Sedd-el-Bahr Castle 80
The ruins of Sedd-el-Bahr and the Castle of Europe ... 80
British troops resting. Australian neighbours to the French
troops near Sedd-el-Bahr . . . . . . .81
Life has begun again around the newly-made graves . . .81
A canvas-covered trench at Sedd-el-Bahr . • . • . .96
A corner of the battlefield after the landing at Sedd-el-Bahr.
Taken May 3, 1915 • . .*«••*• • .96
A review during the Dardanelles campaign. General d'Amade
bestows decorations for bravery at Sedd-el-Bahr ... 97
A dressing station, with Korka, the doctor's Senegalese servant . 112
In the French camp near Sedd-el-Bahr. Colonel Nogues, wounded
in the arm during the Koum Kaleh expedition . . . nz
Life-giving sleep after exhausting fighting . . . * • "3
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A princely dug-out which the doctor occupied for a week . .113
French soldiers in their Colonial helmets carrying shells . .128
A much-needed shave during the first day's rest on the Gallipoli
Peninsula ......... 128
French mobile kitchens (" cuisines roulantes ") . . . .129
Cooks at work above Morto Bay . . . . . .129
A review by General Gouraud of the French troops in Gallipoli . 136
Munition cases protected by a high wall at Sedd-el-Bahr. The
doctor holds his two horses . . . . . .136
A shell bursting in the Morto Bay Plain, seen from the monastery. 137
A French regiment in reserve on the north of Morto Bay . . 144
Debris after the battle near the Vermesch Fountain . . . 144
Drinking water brought by pipes from inspected springs . .145
A little French boy who took part in the operations in Gallipoli for
some weeks ......... 145
French troops in dug-outs at Gallipoli . . . . .145
The Dardanelles Straits from near Eski Hissarlik . . .160
A view of Eski Hissarlik . . . . . . . .160
An old house at Tenedos ........ 161
The Castle of Tenedos ........ 161
The port of Tenedos ........ 161
General Bailloud in consultation with his staff. A Turkish sap has
just been discovered under the French lines . . . .176
Winged torpedoes from the French " crapouillard " — a trench
mortar .......... 176
The Eleonte necropolis. Enormous urns containing two corpses . 177
A magnificent stone-slabbed tomb in the Eleonte necropolis . 177
Map of Salonika and the Valley of the Vardar .... 184
A shell proof dressing station at Sedd-el-Bahr .... 200
Hygienic work being carried out by the Service de Sant£ at
Gallipoli .......... 200
Valley of the Vardar. The railway to the north of Strumnitza
Station .......... 201
The Vardar, near Gradec, looking towards the north . . .201
The central and only street at Strumnitza Station . . . 208
A Serbian cemetery near Strumnitza Station. Two hundred
wounded Serbians were butchered by the Bulgars one night. 208
The doctor's room at Strumnitza Station ..... 209
Putting down a casualty at No. 4 dressing station at Strumnitza. 209
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
MM
The English who replaced the French between Rabrovo and
Doiran ....... ... 216
English artillery on Lake Doiran •• • , • • .217
A motor machine gun which was disembarked on the 2nd Novem-
ber at Strumnitza, and took part in the fight against the
Bulgars on the 3rd . . . . . • • 224
The retreat. French and Serbian soldiers guarding the Sag on the
Valandovo-Katorli road . • • . . . . 224
Preparations for throwing a bridge over the Vardar at Strumnitza 225
Bulgarian prisoners at the headquarters of the 1 56th Division . 225
French soldiers camping in the mud at Modiano Farm . . 256
A convoy of supplies for Topsin stuck in the mud . . . 256
Birama and the doctor's horses in a stream near Bunardza . . 257
A stone bridge with sarcophagus on the Jenidsa-Vardar Road . 257
Valandovo during the battle of Nov. 3. Country carts assembled
in the court of the mosque to evacuate the wounded . 232
A Macedonian soldier forming part of a Greek detachment at
Strumnitza Station . • • . . • • . .233
A Serbian sentinel near Strumnitza . ,. . • . . 233
Ghevgeli in flames during the retreat. . . . . . 240
Children pulling out half-burnt logs when the town was set on
fire . . . . . •«•... 240
French soldiers in the village of Pirovo . . * . . 241
Doctor Subin dressing wounded . . . . . .241
French soldiers in their bullet proof helmets at a review . . 272
Review of troops at Bunardza, near Topsin, to distribute medals and
crosses on Christmas Eve ....... 272
The fountain of Alakilise (the birthplace of Alexander the Great). 273
UNCENSORED LETTERS
FROM THE DARDANELLES
CHAPTER I
BIZERTA AND TUNIS
S.S. "LORRAINE," BIZERTA, 4.30 P.M.
March 5.
DEAREST WIFE,
We had a magnificent crossing, without a ripple on the
sea. I have a splendid cabin de luxe, bathroom, table in
the middle. We take our meals with the captain of the
boat. I found on board my cousin Th£ophile, naval lieu-
tenant, who is serving on the Lorraine. His wife is at
Toulon. She will come to see you. Theois Bona's brother.
It is said that, after eight days at Bizerta, where the final
concentration is to be made, we shall disembark at Gallipoli
The Publisher's thanks are due to the Editor of the Times for
permission to reproduce the " Map of the Dardanelles, " page 52,
and to the Editor of the Standard for " Map of Salonika and the
Valley of the Vardar," facing page 184.
Go to Nice if you have to finish your convalescence in
the South. Quick with your news! I will write you
to-morrow. Your JOB.
UNCENSORED LETTERS
FROM THE DARDANELLES
CHAPTER I
BIZERTA AND TUNIS
S.S. "LORRAINE," BIZERTA, 4.30 P.M.
March 5.
DEAREST WIFE,
We had a magnificent crossing, without a ripple on the
sea. I have a splendid cabin de luxe, bathroom, table in
the middle. We take our meals with the captain of the
boat. I found on board my cousin Theophile, naval lieu-
tenant, who is serving on the Lorraine. His wife is at
Toulon. She will come to see you. Theois Bona's brother.
It is said that, after eight days at Bizerta, where the final
concentration is to be made, we shall disembark at Gallipoli
or in some part of the Dardanelles peninsula. The spirits
of all are excellent.
I hope we shall soon see each other again, dear little
wife. I tried to appear gay on leaving so as not to pain
you. . . . My heart was so full ! Forgive me, darling,
for sometimes having made you weep. Still I love you so
much, the only dear little treasure that I have in all the
world.
Go to Nice if you have to finish your convalescence in
the South. Quick with your news ! I will write you
to-morrow. Your JOE.
2 UNCENSORED LETTERS
March 6-7,
Sunday.
DEAREST WIFE,
We are still at Bizerta, or rather in the middle of the
beautiful bay of that name. Ours was the first boat in.
There will be eighteen in all. Already one sees some very
remarkable ones : Savoie, Provence, Eien Hoa, Paul Lecat,
Australien, Italie, and so on. It is a fine sight, but it is
so rough that it is almost impossible to communicate
between the boats.
I ought to have gone to Tunis to-day to buy medicines,
but no craft can put out. It is rumoured that we go to
Malta to take in coal, and from there to Gallipoli. We
shall leave in four or five days' time.
I am wonderfully well, and am high-spirited. But I am
thinking of my little wife, and I am so sorry not to have
her with me ! You would like so much my room on board.
But you would not like the strong smell of the stables.
We cannot even open the portholes, because the horses put
their heads through them.
Yesterday we visited the arsenal of Bizerta and the town
of Ferryville, also the Naval Hospital, where I found
friends.
One quickly recognises Arab scenery. It is so simple.
Blue sky, white houses with battlements, Barbary fig trees,
grey asses. The market attracts us with its fruits and
vegetables. The market wives of the port haggle over the
price of oranges and salads with the same obstinacy as in
France.
I visited the Naval Hospital, in which the excellent
traditions of the Navy are kept up with a strong degree of
originality and local adaptation. It is a model colonial
hospital.
A very brisk return on a vedette of the Lorraine. The
BIZERTA AND TUNIS 3
famous port of Bizerta is an open roadstead. In the
evening the boats sparkle with light. The sky is studded
with stars and the breeze is deliciously fresh.
My Colonel asks the General to let me go to Tunis to-
morrow to complete the supply of medicaments.
Good-bye, dearest one. Everything is quite all right. I
kiss you many times, and with all my heart. Tell me as
quickly as possible that you are well again.
Your JOE.
March 8.
P.S. — We learn at breakfast news of very great import-
ance. The Greek Minister Venizelos has resigned.
We find out only to-day for certain that we are the
" Corps Exp£ditionnaire d'Orient," the C.E.O. for short.
ON BOARD " LA LORRAINE," IN BIZERTA ROADSTEAD,
March 9.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
We didn't move at all, but are still at the same spot.
We ought to start in four days for the front — the
" Oriental " one.
There is nothing new. Thanks to our very comfortable
quarters, we could stay here a long time. The climate is
soft and agreeable ; the wind has gone down. We are still
forbidden to go on shore. I hope nevertheless to be able
to visit Tunis. We shall soon be alongside the quay.
My cabin is now much adorned. Your photograph as
a chorister boy is at the head of my pitch-pine bed. On
the portholes, which are still closed because of the horses,
there are pictures from the Sketch and even from La Vie
Parisienne. On my big sofa there are cushions.
Everything is in apple-pie order. My saddle is ready,
• a
4 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the holsters and the saddle bags filled, my two tin trunks
are prepared, and I know almost to a needle what I have
inside. Nothing is wanting.
I have at last all my medicines. We can make a good
show. In the white battalion there is a fair number of
young soldiers who are very willing, but, who have, I fear,
very little power of resistance to illness. As for the Senega-
lese, they have already been at the front in France. Then
they were sent to the South of France for the winter, where
they underwent a second training, so they are fine and fit.
From the upper bridge of the boat one overlooks in the
immense bay of Bizerta, as large as that of Brest, fifteen of
the finest boats of our merchant fleet.
Yesterday the weather was exquisitely soft. The sea was
calm. It stretched round in a pale green sheet without a
ripple. On the nearest coast there is a first ridge of hills
covered with spring verdure, striped with the dark lines
of olive trees. Other hills are ranged behind on a blue back-
ground with broken outlines.
I can distinguish a native village on the shore, which
is of a dazzling white. It is called Menzel abder Raman.
Doubtless I shall never see it ; but surely it is pretty.
Crenelated towers, domes and spires of minarets break up
its sky-line like lace.
Our boat is an auxiliary cruiser which moves very
quickly, so as to escape submarines. It was one of the great
Transatlantic liners much patronised by the Americans.
In the saloons where formerly pretty women moved about,
there are groups of rough soldiers going to the war. The
paintings have been covered up, the curtains and the hang-
ings taken away, and the valuable furniture stored for
safety. Across the mirrors, which have had to be left in
place, have been stuck wide bands of white paper to pre-
vent them from being broken by the firing of the guns.
BIZERTA AND TUNIS 5
I have asked the Temps to send me that paper. You
can send me English periodicals — The Times and others.
This morning it was raining ; but now the sun has come
out again. It is very fine. I have given the new address
to all the members of the family likely to write to me.
Ask sometimes by postcard for news of her son from Marie
and of Pierre from Victoire.
At 7 this evening the Colonel informs me that I can go
to Tunis to-morrow. It has been decided to send a doctor to
buy medicaments and serums. The Army officer who
was charged with this duty declared that he could find
nothing. I decide to leave the ship at 8 o'clock.
Dearest little Wife, — I cannot bring myself to believe
that we are separated for a long time. I so long to have
you near to me, and to cover you with my caresses.
Your JOB.
TUNIS, March 10-11-12.
MY DEAR WIFE,
I am writing you from Tunis. I could not go on board
the tug till mid-day. The sea has at last gone down. The
commandant's steward furnished me with a basket full of
victuals, but I only touched the mandarines. Rain, hail,
wind.
I stopped at the Naval Hospital to see my friends again
and present my respects to Dr. Barth61emy, the director.
He is very well up in events in the East. He reminds me
that the Gallipoli peninsula had French hospitals there
during the Crimean War. A large number of doctors
perished of typhus and cholera.
I take the train to Tunis at 4.40 p.m. I go up the
Avenue de France to the Hotel Splendide. Nothing pic-
turesque. A fine provincial town quite new — and dead.
After dinner I go by tram towards the Kasbah. No more
6 UNCENSORED LETTERS
cafes, concerts, no more dance-du-ventre. No one in the
streets. It appears that since the war it is always like that.
In my official duty I have succeeded beyond anything I
could have hoped, but at the cost of what effort and fatigue !
It is 10.30 in the evening. I am worn out. I am drop-
ping with sleep, but I don't want to leave Tunis without
sending you a line.
I have had sent to you from here a few grammes of pure
attar of roses. You must put it in 700 or 800 grammes of
refined alcohol, and you will then have pure attar of
roses for the handkerchief.
We leave on the ijth. Many of the big boats have
already left Bizerta. We don't know where we are going,
but probably we shall land at Gallipoli.
Under my windows is the flower market. The cathedral,
in line with the other buildings, comes into view behind
some palm trees. Now I know at Tunis all the druggists,
all the chemists, the management of the Service de Sante
(from the head doctor's bureau there is a magnificent
panorama), the Bey Hospital, the Pasteur Institute.
I dined with the director of the Pasteur Institute, who
loaded me with serums and vaccines. I finished the after-
noon under the "souks."
We are very well and very happy.
I have bought a little camera for a trifle — a marvel.
It has been tried. You shall have photographs all finished,
and even enlarged. In the meantime here is a film. It
is not bad. In it I come out a little bent because the
camera was not straight.
March 13.
To-day we had a great distribution of medicaments and
various dressings to the three battalions. All the doctors
were there.
BIZERTA AND TUNIS 7
At I p.m. we got under way. The filing past in the
pass of Bizerta under a radiant sun in a spring breeze was
incomparable. A company of infantry of the line paid
us the honours. The " Marseillaise " was played. The
moment was a solemn one. We leave the port by a
devious route, in order to avoid mines.
With field-glasses one easily distinguished on the quays
numbers of cheering people. Children, small schoolgirls
and young girls are especially in evidence. Our squadron
proceeds in order. We form the rear guard. The Savoit
is flank guard in front and to the left.
March 14.
In the morning the coasts of Sicily in the distance. We
only do ten knots in order to wait for the Bien Hoa, which
goes no faster. We are thus all exposed to submarines. I
learn that we are sailing towards Lemnos. The Savoie
and the Lorraine act as cruisers in the little squadron.
Everyone is at his fighting station. There are two officers
of the watch on the bridge. The guns are loaded.
March 15.
At sea. Weather absolutely delicious. Sea calm.
Good-night, dear little wife whom I love. My kisses
and all my heart. Your JOE.
AT SEA ON THE " LORRAINE " FACING CYTHERA,
March 16.
DEAREST WIFE,
To-morrow we shall arrive at the end of our voyage,
an island near to the Dardanelles. We shall probably
land, men and horses : then when the moment arrives
we shall push on further. The English or Italian papers
will doubtless take it upon themselves to tell you where we
8 UNCENSORED LETTERS
are going. We don't know ourselves. If we knew we
might not say.
We left Bizerta on the I3th, and since then the weather
has been delicious and the sea beautifully calm.
At 5 o'clock in the morning we were opposite Crete and
Cerigotto. At 8 o'clock in front of Cythera and the coasts
of Greece. We met a section of the Mediterranean
squadron which continues its sentry duty. They say
there are the Courbet, the Paris, and four other great units
of the " Danton " class, as well as high-sea torpedo-boats.
The Admiral-in-Chief is on the Courbct. Acclamations,
hurrahs. We draw away from each other. The squadron
leaves us and pursues its course. It was a marvellous
spectacle in an incomparable setting.
The Greek mainland, arid and full of colour, rises from
the sea. Mountains covered with snow are outlined against
the horizon like a subtle cloud. It is the Taygete. At
1.30 p.m. we pass between the island of Faconniere and
the island Anti-Milo. At 5 between Zea and Makronisi.
The sun sets in a glory at once sumptuous and simple.
The sea becomes iridescent with gold dust. The distance is
strewn with blue or purple islands separating us from Athens.
I was able to go again to Tunis — on a mission — to com-
plete our provisioning of medicines. I succeeded in
supplying my regiment beyond all expectation. I became
familiar also with the very curious town.
There are two Tunises — the European Tunis, which is
modern and doubtless very agreeable to live in, and the
native Tunis, which is not, but is very old and of a perfect
pic?turesqueness. It evokes a strange impression, one into
which enters a seductive charm and at the same time a
great sadness.
The Mussulman quarter is set in a solemn frame ;
colours and lines are not lacking, but the finest ornament
BIZERTA AND TUNIS 9
of Nature — woman — is suppressed. It is extensive. The
cupolas, minarets, keeps, forts stretch along the sea and
ascend the hills. Many of these make beautiful white
silhouettes. The sea is very blue.
The principal things to see in Tunis are the " souks."
These are sort of street bazaars, covered and bordered with
shops where the natives go to idle, to walk, and to buy
stuffs, leathers, jewels, carpets, perfumes, and so on. The
shops are interspersed with caf6s and mosques.
For instance, the " Souk-el-Trouk " is the street for stuffs
and mantles. A framework of wood, curiously entangled,
roofs the narrow street, which is paved. The sides are
formed of booths, all alike separated by little columns of
beylical colours, green and red. Each booth is a shop
filled with stuffs which flow over outside and hang down
all along as if for a holiday.
The covered passage bends in a curve agreeable to the
eye. Through holes cleverly arranged in the roof rays of
sunlight pierce, and form spots of dazzling gold on the
weird colours of the stuffs, on the little striped columns,
and on the paving cobble-stones. Over it all floats the
meditative atmosphere of a temple. The motionless shop-
keepers, squatting in Turkish fashion, talk without gestures.
In the street grave men pass. Then come forms swathed
in ample white or black garments. You surmise that they
are women, perhaps attractive and pretty. . . . But
instead of the face which enlightens, the face which smiles
and lights up the soul, there is a black mask.
This is the Arab woman. It seems that the most beauti-
ful never go out. Farther on I see young girls come out
of a school — a whole swarm of little Arabs. They all wear
the veil, hiding the face entirely, even the eyes !
Your JOE.
CHAPTER II
THE ISLES OF GREECE
March 17.
DEAR ANXIOUS ONE,
I am absolutely perfectly well. Don't worry about me.
The Service de Sante will go on famously. I have some
excellent doctors and some fairly good ones. I have
obtained a reasonable quantity of medicines. Our officers
are fine — the Colonel very amiable, very intelligent and
benevolent. The men are well disciplined and willing.
We arrived at Lemnos, Gulf of Mudros, this morning
the I yth inst., and shall stay here to-morrow. After
to-morrow probable departure for an unknown point on
the Dardanelles.
Lemnos is one of the famous Isles of Greece, which in the
spring weather preens itself in the most entrancing colours.
We have not yet been allowed to land, but from the bridge
of our boat we look on sights of veritable beauty. The
air is tenuous, and of an extraordinary purity. Every-
thing seems to be coloured by a magic brush.
This evening there was a sunset which was a pure Greek
marvel. After nightfall we all went into the inner bay
behind the boom. All the boats were lit up in the dark —
it was magnificent.
I don't know what the future may have in store for us.
In any event, we have finished a voyage of great interest
and peculiar charm. A thousand times a day I regret on
THE ISLES OF GREECE u
your account that you are not with us. How you would
have loved all that we do and all that we shall do !
I would have loved to have you here, for your and for
my sake also, and because I learn to love you more and
more each day.
Forget my bad temper, forget my stupidities of the last
few months. We are still very happy in each other.
When will you come and rejoin me at Constantinople ?
I embrace you with all the strength of my soul, dear
little wife. Your JOE.
March 18.
MY DEAREST,
The beautiful peace of yesterday is no more. A rather
lively breeze has sufficed to destroy it. The bay is
agitated, the surface of the waters is troubled; one
perceives an unusual freshness — an indication of a sudden
change of weather.
Our Brigade General came on board at 9 o'clock. At
11.40 I had a conference with the battalion doctors.
General d'Amade makes for the Dardanelles on the
English cruiser Phaeton. We pay the usual honours. A
company lands near the point of Limni for practice in
trying unsinkable rafts.
Our Colonel is still unwell. Several English boats carry-
ing troops left Lemnos for the Dardanelles . . . no, for
Port Said. There have been grave events in Egypt.
The boats returned here less than twenty-four hours
later.
Finally they say that General-in-Chief Ian Hamilton
has taken upon himself to send back his troops," since all
was finished."
12 UNCENSORED LETTERS
March 19.
Landing practice. The wicker rafts were made at the
time of the Fashoda business for the invasion of England !
Nothing could be more complicated. They inspire no con-
fidence in spite of the real ingenuity of the arrangement.
I am charged with a mission together with Captain Goetz
and Lieutenant Petiot. We have to explore the country,
or rather a specified sector, in order to decide on the spot
for a bivouac. Craggy, rocky soil, arid and thyme-
scented, where sheep graze.
Some Greek shepherds of classic picturesqueness talk
to us in the language of Homer. We are delighted at
understanding a few words. A fine old man has the good-
ness to conduct us to all the springs, one by one, at
which his lambs drink. It is pretty now and then.
These would be something to rhyme about for a long
time, but not the wherewithal to provide drink for a regi-
ment. We search further. We halt at midday for lunch.
Magnificent scenery over the Bay of Kondia, the town
of the same name built in terraces and clinging to the grey
rocks. We are attracted by the town, which seems worth
seeing. We discover a river, where we could plant our
tents.
When we return on board the sea is rough. Some rafts
laden with troops were in perdition for an hour.
We learn on board vague bad news of the Dardanelles.
Some ironclads must have gone down. The weather gets
more and more rough. To-night there is a tempest.
March 20.
The tempest continues. It is a sudden and radical
change. Lemnos, the island which had charmed us by
its tranquil beauty, is quite enwrapped in fog, swept by
THE ISLES OF GREECE 13
violent winds, lost in a wicked greyness. All the boats
drag on their anchors.
The Savoie has gone to sea ; many others have imitated
her. We rock badly. There are very disagreeable jerks.
Every moment we expect to put out to sea.
March 21.
The tempest abates ; the sun shines again. Orders came
this morning to land the regiment. Captain Braun and
I go to reconnoitre the site of our camp. We leave the
ship on a vedette at 1.30 p.m. Mudros is a little port,
a modest village, invaded by French and English soldiers,
sailors, horses, Greek traders. The houses are badly built,
more picturesque than comfortable.
The English khaki is everywhere in evidence. It is
Sunday. One works all the same. The French uniforms
of all colours display a Shrove Tuesday incongruity. The
engineers shift earth and finish a bridge. The English
have been at Mudros for a fortnight. There are from
forty-five to fifty boats in the port.
There are no orders, but it appears that we are depart-
ing. Return difficult with the vedette in the spray. The
sea is rough again.
March 22.
Bad weather. Since yesterday evening orders not to dis-
embark another man. We shall probably go to Mitylene.
While waiting some boats signal : " We have no more
water, we have no more bread. Our horses are dying of
hunger and thirst. . . ."
Yesterday one of the English cruisers went right on the
rocks of the island. It is 6° C. this morning, whereas
H UNCENSORED LETTERS
yesterday it registered 22°. The English were in khaki
cloth and colonial headgear.
In the afternoon the Colonel was summoned on board
to a military conference. Everything is suspended. We
are about to depart. Perhaps we shall endeavour to take
possession of an island.
But what isle is there in the Aegean Sea which is not
already Greek, English, or Italian ? Perhaps the Colonial
Brigade would be able to stay on land a few days, but
where ?
The Colonel has fallen ill again. On account of the
mumps a general gargle has been prescribed on the bridge.
So far my throat seems clear of any suspicious pain.
Love from your JOE.
IN LEMNOS ROADSTEAD ON BOARD THE " LORRAINE,"
March 24.
DEAR LITTLE ONE,
We are now here since the i/th. We have not landed.
Only a few officers went ashore. I was one of the favoured
ones, having been sent officially. Our horses have not
left the ship since leaving Toulon. We do not know how
long we shall have to stay here, but we are extremely well
and in a happy mood.
Everything seemed to foretell a long stay here, when
orders came this evening to be ready to start off to-morrow.
Nobody knows where.
We have had some bad weather — so bad, it was danger-
ous to leave the ship. There is a brilliant sun, but still a
big swell. The port of Mudros is not much sheltered. As we
are anchored at a good distance from the shore we thought
we had been the only ones to suffer, but several large
THE ISLES OF GREECE 15
transports have taken shelter, and a motor vedette went
down head first.
The battleships Queen Elizabeth and Implacable, several
two-funnelled cruisers, and some torpedo-boats have
returned to port. Many personal disputes, many muddles.
At last we are able for the first time to land some sick !
The hospital boat Duguay-Trouin has arrived. We are
still keeping our twenty-six contagious cases (mumps,
scarlatina, measles).
With a cabin like mine it would be possible to live
on board comfortably for months. Every now and then
evening entertainments are arranged, with magic lantern,
songs, recitations.
You probably know what is happening here better than
we do. Some men-of-war have been sunk in the Darda-
nelles ; and operations will apparently take longer than was
at first supposed. All we have to do is to wait ! Patience
is a military virtue.
I have two horses and two Senegalese orderlies. The
latter know their duties, and look after me well. On
shore I shall have meals with the Colonel and his aide-de-
camp. We have an excellent cook ; and the three of us
together receive eight rations — enough to satisfy eight
insatiable soldiers.
From 9 to 10 a grand entertainment, ditties in the salle
des fetes.
One of my infirmary cart-drivers is a circus clown
in civil life. I have never seen a more extraordinary
phenomenon. He dances, he sings, he twists himself
about : he boasts that he has a thousand tricks in his
bag.
As head doctor to the regiment I have a telephone post
at my disposal, with six to eight European operators.
This will enable me, during the fighting, to be in
i6 UNCENSORED LETTERS
constant communication with the Colonel and with all the
other doctors.
There is a continual and wonderful movement of ships —
a whole fleet of British men-of-war, of which you would
be proud, my little English wife.
In to-day's Divisional General Order No. 8, there is a gem
dedicated to the Press : " A private traveller, without a
post, without authorisation, has succeeded in placing himself
and all his luggage on board the auxiliary cruiser Provence.
The General commanding the C.E.O. reminds (his men)
that access to the ships transporting troops and materials
should be under very rigorous control. This rule is even
more strictly binding in the present circumstances, in
war and the vicinity of the enemy. Everyone . . . etc."
(here follows a long palaver). We do not know whether
the journalist has been shot. Rumour says that he got off
with a fine. He had to copy out the accusing order twice.
When the weather is clear like to-day, one perceives in
the north a mountainous mass covered with snow. Jt is
Samothrace.
There is a question of leaving to-morrow for Alexan-
dria. The English Admiral Garden has been replaced
since the i6th by Admiral de Robeck.
I hope you are safe in the bosom of your family. I think
of you every minute. You are present in my thoughts as if
we were not far from each other.
I never understood so deeply what love bound us. I
can't understand how I could sometimes have been so
tiresome, since my love for you is as complete as in the
first days of our marriage.
Give me news of all your family.
I want nothing. All goes well. Tell me quickly that
you are in excellent health.
Your HUSBAND and your PROUD ALLY.
THE ISLES OF GREECE 17
March 25.
MY OWN WIFE,
We left Lemnos at 1 1 o'clock in the morning, in fresh
weather and a swell, at the same time as the Vinh Long.
Complete immobility in an excellent deck-chair, bathed
in sunshine. All day we are going to sail through the seas
where ancient Greece has left so many traces of beauty.
We are a prey to too many painful feelings to savour
all the charm dwelling upon these waters. To sum up,
we are beating a retreat without having fought. We had
dreamt of aiding our brothers struggling on other fronts
by opening the road to Constantinople and Berlin.
At about 1.30 p.m. we are abreast of Mitylene. A battle-
ship on the horizon . . . the Charlemagne. In a bay
another French battleship, which, according to the Com-
mandant, can be no other than the Gaulois.
From 4 to 7.30 p.m. we skirt the rich and famous island
of Chios. Inimitable scenery and colouring. Blue twilight.
It is deliciously mild ; the air is light and very pleasant.
. . . Nobody knows whether Chios is Turkish or Greek.
Our guns are ready to speak, anyhow.
March 26.
On waking we are between Rhodes and Scarpanto, in
ideal weather. We pass the boat Sapphire, of the English
Navy. Afterwards there was a high sea as far as
Alexandria.
At 4 p.m. we meet a transport which has lots of English
soldiers on board. "Marseillaise," "God Save the King,"
bugles, hurrahs. Good-night, J.
CHAPTER III
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS
ALEXANDRIA, March 27.
HEART OF MINE,
I went up on the bridge about 6 o'clock and perceived
a long low line without relief or colour. We saluted with
all our delighted hearts. At 7.45 we entered the port.
On our right imposing African scenery, slender minarets,
palm trees, white cubes of masonry, rose-coloured sand.
We kept on.
A forest of masts, lots of steamboats. We came to
anchor in front of the American armoured cruiser Tennessee.
We came alongside; then we disembarked about I p.m.
An immense bridge, worked by 100 natives, rose as high
as the upper spar deck of the Lorraine ; and immediately,
without accident, trooped off a flood of men, then horses
and material. Everything has been foreseen and pre-
arranged.
We are in an English country. What a contrast to
Lemnos !
Carriages and motors await my sick, who are carried off
without delay. Our arrival had not been announced
beforehand, but some friendly compatriots were there.
The first is a small energetic lady in black tailored
costume, with fair hair, who from on board had puzzled
us a great deal. She is interested in our sick. Intro-
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 19
ductions take place. Madame la Comtesse de ,
directress of a local journal.
Immediately a very sympathetic atmosphere. " If
we had known, your soldiers would have been better
received . . ."
Colonel Nogues and I take a carriage through the
town. We are obliged to take the electric tram to
Ramleh. There we again find the troops, who have been
cheered all the way. The captains wear roses in their
button-holes. Flowers have been thrown.
The trams fill with soldiers, perspiring and red ; the
crowd surrounds them — offers them oranges and cigarettes.
We start towards our future camp.
The road is lined with fine new houses, then villas.
Some appear very beautiful. The gardens, filled with
roses, jessamines and carnations, perfume the spring air.
As we pass, the windows are opened, hands are clapped,
kisses are blown towards us.
At 5 p.m. we are on the site of the camp. It is a fine
beach, with undulating ground and groups of bushes.
On the left a Khedivial palace, on the right some wind-
mills with large sails and a mosque. Behind, Victoria
College, where the General will reside with his staffs.
The English have perfectly defined the limits of our
camp. Nothing is lacking. Water flows in abundance from
taps within easy reach. We have the use of a telephone
cabin. I have a tent put up beside the Colonel's, while a
sympathetic crowd surrounds and questions us.
At night a high wind, tempest, torrents of rain. It
appears that it never rains at this period at Alexandria !
I took a long time to go to sleep, not because of the
storm, but because in the tents of the men, too close, there
were not a few drunk. They never finish telling how well
they have been treated.
20 UNCENSORED LETTERS
March 28.
Rose at 5 o'clock. Rain, squalls, lightning, thunder.
Our tents have already been almost carried away by a squall.
The small tents of our men are a lamentable sight.
However, the hive is working, the kitchens are being
organised, the coffee is getting hot. The sun dries, im-
proves and makes things shine once more.
Visitors invade the camp. Many accost me personally.
Lady visitors are in the majority. We take our first
breakfast in the wooden hut which was destined for a
canteen. Our cook is a real cordon bleu. He is called
Bayac. Colonel Moll brought him up, and often took
him to Paris.
Bayac has made use of his knowledge of French.
You shall see how. We found one day on our table ten
postcards which were written on and bore addresses. They
had been forgotten there. By whom ? . . . We read.
Zounds ! They were tender and well phrased. They
were all addressed to women : Mademoiselle Maria . . .
Madame Ernestine . . . and the rest — very significant.
No doubt this was Bayac's work. He is certainly very
good-looking. The expression of his face is very gentle and
intelligent.
Torrid heat ; blinding light from the sands. Tent
40° Centigrade at midday. Cold tub ; then ride on horse-
back to the first village. The camp swarms in all directions
with the population of Alexandria, which tries in all
manner of ways to spoil our troopers. The three battalions
are separately grouped. My medical service is a model.
Other regiments arrive and spread out on the plain,
which is hazy and empty as the desert.
Alexandria is a very straggling town. We all returned
from Lemnos except one regiment. We don't know how
long we shall stay here or where we shall go afterwards.
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS fl
I haven't been into Alexandria from here yet. It is
II kilometres, but there is an electric tram near by. I
rode for two hours this afternoon. I am extremely
well.
Dinner. Korka doses my tent. Some melancholy
moments.
All my love, dearest one. Yours, JOE.
March 29.
MY DEAR WIFE,
Everything is all right. I am quite comfortable in my
tent. We could both live in it together, and you would
certainly like this life. My tent is large and spacious. I
have tried to make it attractive, because plenty of people
(including many young girls) want to look at it.
The weather is rather changeable. It is extremely
hot here during the day, but on the other hand it is fresh
once the sun has gone down.
Fresh and rainy to-night. My tent, though the rain
beats on it all the time, is watertight. In the first rays
of the sun it looks as yellow as an orange.
I make choice of a little black horse as a second mount.
He is young and vigorous, but that is all. I feel very
strong and healthy.
We are being spoilt by the Alexandrians.
At 4 o'clock in the evening I take the tram for Alexan-
dria. Shopping tiresome, for there is no longer anything
in the shops. The English and Australians have bought
everything. As in Paris, there are the Louvre and the
Galeries Lafayette.
From habit, or perhaps because the saleswomen are
22 UNCENSORED LETTERS
pretty, I always begin my trips with the Grands Maga-
sins. " We have never seen French soldiers in Egypt ! "
They all rushed out like a torrent into the street when
a regiment passed by. And the question shot out like
arrows : " What is that one ? . . . How many * 75 ' guns
are there ? . . ." True little patriots, they have doubtless
learnt much.
After dinner, our joyous company grew by several
units. We went to see the dance du-ventre. There was
nothing aesthetic about it. I went back to camp early.
March 30.
Thick fog on awaking. Horse-ride from 8 to 10. Suffo-
cating heat during the siesta.
I went to Alexandria about 5 o'clock. After tea, at
Madame tete-a-tete with Madame , I go to the
Galeries Lafayette. Interviews. Little by little all the
shopwomen surround us.
Then one of the great ladies of the town, a customer,
arrives. They prepare to disperse, but she insists on
their not putting themselves out. She mixes in the con-
versation. Magnificent figure ; skin clear and creamy ; fair,
green eyes. She wears a white toque with an aigrette,
bodice of white lace and white skirt. I lost my head
and invited her to the theatre this evening, to dinner, to
the cinema — I know not what.
I am in turn invited to dejeuner. The white aigrette
has seen me at the camp of Ramleh. I was just shaving.
I remember her very well. She chose with me a yellow
lining for my tent. I returned to camp in glorious moon-
light and full of romance.
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 23
March 31.
I rise early. A horse-back ride with the Colonel. I
mount for the first time his horse, which will become my
" Dix Avril." I adopt it. Along the canal. Verdant
plain. Farm ; cultivated fields. Wheat and poppies.
Against a blue metallic sky, like a glass, rise the white
minarets of a lonely mosque and the limitless sand, grey
and rose. A few solitary palm trees. I dine in town.
April I.
I have been riding in the streets of Ramleh between
villas with admirable gardens : roses, carnations, bou-
gainvilleas, lemon trees, jasmines, palm trees, cocoanuts.
No feminine apparition on this scene. At about 9 o'clock
the windows open, however, and a few pretty faces, still
half-asleep, interrogate space.
Dejeuner on the road to Alexandria with a French
family settled in the country. Its head has important
administrative duties. It has also connections with well-
known families.
Sumptuous menu ; hearty reception ; exquisite dresses ;
intellectual and varied conversation. Afternoon of music
and song. Intoxicating aromas ; memories of Paris.
Appointments for to-morrow.
Good-night, my loved one. Your JOE.
April 2.
DEAREST,
I am sitting in my tent. It is hot, windy, and full of
flies everywhere. At any rate, I feel extremely well, and
24 UNCENSORED LETTERS
quite calm and contented with everything. My only pre-
occupation is not knowing how long we shall stop here.
Perhaps in London you are better informed than we in
this desert. If it was for a month, how gladly I would
telegraph to you to join me here. But we may start
off at any minute. My infirmary is well placed, under
canvas, of course, like the rest of the camp. The ladies
come and visit and interest themselves in my patients,
and give them all sorts of things.
My tent is comfortable. At the entrance is a table
and a chair. For light I have an oil lamp with which
I am fairly satisfied.
This morning, to make my tent prettier and cooler, I
have lined it with a brilliant yellow material a yard wide.
My servant Korka sewed it. Flies hate yellow, so it is
both useful and pleasant.
I take my tub every day between 2 and 3. Unfortu-
nately people always seem to choose that time to come
and see me. You will see how hot it is when I say that
I take the water straight from the tap.
I will send you to-day, either with this or under separate
cover, photographs of this place, especially of the camp.
April 3.
DEAREST,
Nothing new. My health is perfect. Climate hot, but
healthy.
In the morning, exercise, horse-back, reports, and atten-
tion to the sick, few in number.
Tea with Madame , then a carriage ride round the
town. Touching farewells. N. and I dine at the restau-
rant. Back early to camp.
AT KAMI.KH CAMP, NEAR ALEXANDRIA.
7.OUAVKS DIGGING IN FOREGROUND AT RAMI.KH.
A MARCH ON THE ROAD TO ABOUKIR.
THE REVIEW OK THE CORPS EXPEDITION NAIRE D ORIENT BY
GENERAL D'AMADE.
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 25
April 4.
On horse-back from 6 to 1 1 o'clock on my dear Gris ;
very capricious, but so spirited.
The French colony of the town comes at 4 p.m. to the
camp to bring our soldiers some dainties and Easter eggs.
The Colonel and the officers offer them champagne.
Toasts. They are a varied and very curious collection of
Frenchwomen beyond the Mediterranean. Clothes in
good taste. Figures neat enough ; faces charming. . . .
To-morrow is Easter. A family invites N. and me to
dejeuner. I arrived very late for tea with Madame .
Scolded. A silk dress embellished, painted and soft.
Low necks, diamonds and jewels. After tea, champagne
cup with strawberries.
April 5.
I wake up perished with cold and rather tired. The
cloth of my tent is saturated with water like a sponge. Fog
everywhere.
We go into town to be present at the consular mass.
General d'Amade and our Minister to Egypt represent
France. The whole of a numerous population which has
not been able to find room in the church awaits our exit.
From group to group, outside, we find all our friends
again.
Dejeuner with some French friends. Madame was at
the patriotic demonstration at the camp yesterday.
We have come across a family, accounted out here very
French, in which monsieur is of the pure Levantine type,
that is to say, Greek, Egyptian, Italian or some other.
Madame is very pretty and steeped in French literature.
Madame's brother is a Levantine with curled hair. Her
Italian sister-in-law has rather Austrian tendencies. The
26 UNCENSORED LETTERS
whole atmosphere was certainly very fdr from that of our
country. Little remains of France in it.
We pass the afternoon at the Sporting Club. There are
some tennis-players whose form is very good.
Your devoted HUSBAND.
April 6.
To-day, dear little wife, we have a sandstorm from the
desert, which began last evening. All night, squalls and
sand dust. It is cold on awaking. In the distance a dull
light. We are always thirsty.
Fortunately, about 10 o'clock the light returns for the
review of the troops held by General d'Amade. A very
fine military spectacle, but a century late.
It was the remembrance of Bonaparte and Aboukir
which floated over the review — a magnificent scene. We
all displayed again our stripes and decorations. The
African " chechias " shone out bright red.
The sun joined in the fete. The colours of the uniforms
were thrown into relief by the yellow grey sand, and
weapons regained their brilliancy ; the soldiers of the
Republic, whom the mirage of the desert magnified^ whom
history resurrected, prepared for triumph.
All the French of Egypt, an enormous crowd, delirious
with enthusiam, acclaimed the Army.
General d'Amade presents the troops to General Sir Ian
Hamilton, Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Expedition.
We were all electrified. To-day our regiment was given
its colours. In the tribunes we recognised familiar toilettes.
Flowers fell at the feet of our prancing horses. ... It
was the glory of the past, the epoch of Napoleon, which we
represented. Our destinies were full of promise, but
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 27
battle had not yet tried us. Those who were going to
die intoxicated themselves for the last time with the smiles
of women and the memories of history.
When we returned to our tents, " they " came to chat
with us. " They " had been in the front benches of the
stand, and " they " had been filled with admiration.
All the town was present. It was a holiday. We
invited " them " en bloc to dine in town in the
evening.
In the afternoon, races at the Sporting Club. Astonish-
ing assembly of elegant toilettes — faces and features of a
variety and of beauty. I am introduced by the Lieutenant-
Colonel to the daughter of our Consul-General.
At dinner there were mannequins from the " Grands
Magasins," who had graciously accepted our invitation.
Your JOE.
April j.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
I am very troubled not to have received a single word
of you since the gth of March. Your father wrote to me,
and said practically nothing about you.
We are leading a very varied and very healthy life. I'll
give the usual daily routine.
The reveille sounds at 5 a.m. A few minutes later
my Senegalese servant Korka pokes his head through
the tent door and says " Tu veux ton caf6 ? " " Vous "
does not exist in his vocabulary. He brings it. It is
always detestable. I get up. Riding breeches and leather
gaiters.
When I am ready, I visit the infirmary and give detailed
orders. The horses come up, my grey, a superb animal,
and a little black horse, very nice, which you would love.
28 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I ride very often with Colonel Nogues, sometimes with
Nibaudeau, rarely alone.
Limitless stretches of sand — a few palm trees. Every
10 or 15 kilometres an Arab town, very picturesque in
the distance under the blue sky, but filthy and smelly at
close quarters.
Yesterday I went to Aboukir. At first all the doors were
shut ; later the children dared to show themselves, and
then the women followed — veiled.
We are much feted at Alexandria. I am invited out a
great deal. People come to me when they wish to give
presents to soldiers and patients.
Yesterday three Mussulman women asked to see me,
and I showed them round the camp. Their faces were
veiled and their costumes hidden under black draperies
of uniform pattern.
There have been races, where we went with Nibaudeau.
If I had news of you I should be easy and much calmer.
I hope it won't be much longer before I hear.
I asked our Brigade General if we should remain long
here, and if I could have you out. He said we might start
off at any moment ; and that on your arrival you risked
finding us gone. He also said that if your coming should
get known, I should be punished and you deported.
And so you see, darling, we must wait.
Your JOE.
April 8.
MY DEAR WIFE,
I begin to be a little melancholy because I have no
letters from you. Yesterday I sent a registered letter to
you containing money and some photos. It was rather
difficult to get a cheque.
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 29
We shall probably be leaving Alexandria in two or three
days, as some of the English and Australian troops are
already embarking. It is rumoured that on the i«j.th inst.
we of the Corps Exp6ditionnaire d'Orient will be on board
en route for ... Gallipoli ?
In town I think they will be sorry to lose us. We have
been received everywhere with such sympathy, spon-
taneity, and generosity. If I had wished, I need never
have had a meal in the camp. There is a continual flow
of telegrams, letters, flowers. I receive for my patients
all sorts of provisions, cigarettes, newspapers.
Yesterday I dined in town — no lack of pretty women.
I must confess that in this — Cleopatra's — country women
have great charm and fascination. I think I am one of the
officers most in request. A letter from you would have
been more welcome and have gone more direct to my heart
than all the pleasures and flattery here. Send one
quickly to Your homesick HUSBAND
April 12.
DEAREST ONE,
I didn't post my letter to-day — nothing new. They
say we shall land at Salonika or Smyrna. At any rate, we
are ready.
April 13.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
I am dining alone in a smart restaurant in Alexandria,
and I think of you passionately. I do hope you are well
and happy. Don't be worried about your Joe. He will
come back in a few months, and we will love each other
more and more.
30 UNCENSORED LETTERS
These photos have been taken by a friend. I think they
will please you. My new horse is grey, as you will see.
Love to all, and kisses to you. Yours TOE
April 14.
MY DEAR,
Alexandria is bewitching, but happily the strict military
rules of camp life prevent us from being drawn entirely
into its toils. Sometimes in my tent, under the burning
Egyptian sun, I feel very melancholy, especially at not
having letters from you.
If we operate in the Dardanelles Alexandria will remain
the chief base.
Important hospitals are also being prepared. If the
campaign is a long one, I am therefore hoping that I
shall return at some future date, and you will join me
here. My dream is vague, but it is like a star which
helps and guides me.
I wonder if you receive my letters, postcards, photos.
My camera still gives me pleasure: 1,000 cameras have
been sold to the armies between Cairo and Alexandria. It
will give you souvenirs. We start to-morrow morning
for Lemnos (doubtless) and then for the battle in Gallipoli.
Write to the same address, via Marseilles.
Oh, quick, quick a letter, my dear ! TOE
ISLE OF SKYROS (GREECE), April 18.
DEAR WIFE OF MINE,
Here since 4 p.m. yesterday. Cannot forget Alexandria,
where we were extraordinarily feted.
The boats arrive one by one : Charles Rouxy Carthage,
Duguay Trouin — a hospital boat.
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 31
We are anchored beside other transports and an English
battleship. All lights are put out at night because of the
submarines, of which one talks a great deal.
At 7 o'clock, just as we are going in to dinner, the
Colonel announces that a landing is ordered.
We doctors arrange the principal details for the Service
de Sante". The operating theatre will be established in the
Children's Room.
We hope to be at Constantinople next month. The
photography goes on marvellously. You ought to have
received excellent specimens by now, which should have
given you pleasure. Your JOE.
April 21.
DEAR LITTLE ONE,
We left Alexandria early on the i6th. We have been
here since the afternoon of the I7th. We do not yet know
the exact place where we shall attack the Turks. We are
among the first landing parties, and we know that hard
fighting awaits us. We shall be witnesses of great things.
I am confident and calm. I should be so glad to receive
a letter from you before going under fire. I will try and
send you news regularly. It is impossible to put stamps on
my letters. No one has any of any kind.
If I were wounded and were sent to Alexandria you
could doubtless go there at once.
Your financial position is good. I have left you all I
possess, all that I can legally dispose of. It is only fair.
By your advice and your wisdom we have been able to
manage our money well. Besides, you are the dearest
thing I have in the world. I have loved you abso-
lutely and completely for long, long years without there
32 UNCENSORED LETTERS
being the least shadow. No other woman existed but
you. . . .
******
I must write no more, so as to remain strong and full of
courage. I shall doubtless have much to do very soon for
those brave little soldiers of mine.
I will tell you about my doings of yesterday. It had
been decided that the infantry troops, for practice and
training, should go ashore in the cruiser's boats. They
were to start at 6 o'clock. I and Dr. Lossman, of the
ist Battalion, decided to accompany them. I like Dr.
Lossman's company very much. He is very correct,
earnest, and sensible. He has left in Brittany a young wife
and two children. My faithful Korka woke me at 5. He
came with us, his red " chechia " on his head, his gun slung
over his shoulder, and carrying a basket with our luncheon.
We were ashore at 7, and began to climb up the nearer
side of the island, which rises to about 200 metres. At
first it was difficult walking. Thorny plants and stones like
veined marble. In between the stones are wild thyme
and mint and other plants. Later small flowers begin to
show themselves, then whole beds of them — one white bush
exactly like our honeysuckle.
It is the country of flowers and sweet scents.
As we mount high the bay stretches out before us like
a huge mirror on which boats are painted. They appear
very tiny, and yet we can distinguish all their details with
unbelievable precision. In the background is the grand
scenery of the mountains, which cross the horizon in
powerful curves.
We go to the right. The hill is hollowed out into a green
valley. There are no cultivated fields, but groups of high
trees here and there with great spaces in between covered
with grass, which resemble English lawns. It is delicious
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 33
lying down in the shade of these trees, which are probably
wild olives.
The scent of flowers is wafted to us from all around.
Later we continue our climb till we reach the highest
point of the island. Under a minute tent a man is sleeping.
Another wrapped up in flags and coats continues his
night's rest in the sun.
Two English soldiers in khaki are signalling with mirrors.
One of them, who looks like a fine old sailor with a grade
equivalent to non-commissioned officer, begins to talk.
He has seen a lot with the Canopus in the Dardanelles.
It was he who signalled the Turkish torpedo-boat two
days ago which came to Skyros, and which on leaving
torpedoed the English transport Manitou, 20 miles from
here. The Turkish torpedo-boat was pursued by two boats,
and was forced to beach itself. It was destroyed, and the
crew were transhipped. There were two German officers
among them.
The chief of the semaphore station had placed upon a
flag on the ground an excellent breakfast, and invited
us to do honour to it. In a gigantic goblet was half a pint
of excellent tea, a great dish of salmon, bread, biscuits,
a pot of apricot jam as big as a world. . . . Korka
received a round of beef and an English ration of bread.
We wandered about after that, and by chance came on
a small bay which seemed made specially for bathing.
It was a beach with very fine sand, and gently sloping.
One could see the golden sand for 100 metres' distance.
By a transparent light under a very blue sky, colours are
glorified and mingle in perfect harmony, and outlines are
infinitely soft. We undressed on a beach, where doubt-
less formerly trembling nymphs prepared their divine
bodies for the water's caresses.
Afterwards we went to an olive-tree wood, which was
34 UNCENSORED LETTERS
a cool oasis. The lambs and goats which wander about
without guardians were collected there. Under each tree
animals were sleeping. White fleece and black fleece in
the green vegetation made arabesque designs.
We had a cold lunch with us, and did it justice. Then
we slept for an hour. The wild thyme in the midday sun
gave out intoxicating perfumes.
During all this time our plucky little soldiers were train-
ing for war, and making trenches in this stony ground with
their customary zeal.
We got back on board at 3 o'clock, and I sat down to
send you all my news, all my love and a thousand kisses.
J-
April 24.
DEAR WIFE OF MINE,
We left Skyros yesterday at 3.15. Weather cloudy and
cool. We sailed at top speed under the supervision of
cruisers and torpedo-boats. At 8.30 p.m. we anchored.
It was here that we came from Bizerta before going to
Alexandria.
Some officers thought we were going to land this morning.
Everything was ready. An ambulance with seven doctors
has joined the Savoie. To-day, at 10 o'clock, Colonel
Nogues and Colonel Ruef came back on board after visiting
the area where our campaign will begin. While the
English attack Gallipoli on the European side, we, the
French, shall land at Koum Kaleh. After Koum Kaleh we
shall take Yeni Shee, and prevent the enemy here on the
Asiatic side from hindering our troops on the European side.
I have completely organised my service for the wounded,
I have four big hospitals boats at my disposal, and a dress-
ing station on shore. I am head doctor of the expedition,
RAMLEH AND LEMNOS 35
with twenty-one doctors, a chemist and two administrative
officers under my orders.
It is a varied organisation, which will not entirely serve,
but which, I hope, will save life and give comfort.
On returning from my tour of the boats I had the joy
of reading one of your letters. At last ! Since March 8
I had had nothing from you. This letter is dated Bognor,
April 4. Think of that !
I have been very plucky, but it was really too hard.
My father said in a letter that G. is ill at Toulon ; and
according to information from my family you were at
Toulon till the I9th of March.
Perhaps they have stolen your letters because they came
from England. At any rate you can imagine how happy
I have been to-day. I wonder if you received my letters
regularly. I wrote postcards, letters, letters and postcards
nearly every day. Your family has been in trouble — oh,
the grief and sorrow of war !
Love and a long embrace ! T
D I
CHAPTER IV
THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY
April 24 (midnight).
As we go into action with the dawn to-morrow, my dear
little wife, I have spent these last hours putting into shape
all my belongings — in case I should not occupy this pleasant
cabin again. In clearing out everything I have decided
to send you the diary I kept while at Alexandria,
although necessarily it goes again over the ground in
my letters.
Why not ? On such occasions a husband should have
no secrets, no reservations of emotion from the dear wife
of his heart. I can trust you to read it as it was meant
to be read — and to understand.
April 6.
I am melancholy. Not a single letter from my wife
since my departure from Toulon. I must forget and bury
myself in the present.
To-day, a very long ride as far as Aboukir. The sea
was rough, the wind tempestuous. It was like that doubt-
less when our ships were wrecked on those rocks, on this
beach in Napoleon's day. The plain is calm and beautiful
like our victory on land. . . .
I rode around the Khedive's palace and wished to return
by the shore, but it was guarded. The wives of the Sultan
bathe there. I saw a pretty little bay where they prob-
THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY 37
ably go to disport themselves in the water. I got back
very late. Everyone was enjoying a siesta. A strong
wind was raising a sandstorm.
About 5 o'clock the wind died down and the tents opened.
While Mesdames B. and M., both deliciously dressed in
white, were with me, I received the visit of three veiled
Egyptian women. It is rather embarrassing — how not
to offend people of such very different customs and
habits ?
But the ice was quickly broken. r While introducing them-
selves (the mother, Dalilah and the young sister) they took
possession of a bunch of roses on my table.
As the mother understands very little French and
the young sister is very much less expert than Dalilah,
I risked a few compliments. The veil does not prevent
blushes.
They would like to see the camp. I accompanied them
to the infirmary, to the machine-gun sections, to the
kitchens, to the stables, to the little tents in rows along
the beach, where the soldiers look curiously at the
Egyptian women. I went as far as the mosque with
them.
We became great friends. We have exchanged addresses.
To-morrow I am to go there on horseback.
" But is it not forbidden that men should call on Mussul-
man women ? "
" My Greek servant is ill — only a French doctor can
cure her."
Night was falling. Touching good-byes. The little soul
of Dalilah is very strange, and her eyes are more beautiful
than any dream.
I had forgotten my white apparitions who had lingered
at the Zouave camp. Mutual scoldings when we meet
at the tramway station — I have no feeling of jealousy.
38 UNCENSORED LETTERS
April 7.
According to my promise, I went to call on my Turkish
friends.
In the evening I dined with an Alexandrian family.
Madame seems to have come straight out of a Gains-
borough frame. Everything is there, even the favourite
head-dress of the artist.
Her beauty is imposing. She was wearing this evening
a soft black satin which finished towards the top in rose-
cerise. Her friend has big Spanish eyes and all the attrac-
tive charm of the Midi.
Afterwards the cinematograph. The box was big, the
seats excellent. It facilitate confidences. We took leave
of each other very late.
April 8.
I woke up with a sinking heart, almost ill — from the
intoxication of last night. Sharp physical suffering. Real
sorrow too. I went for a ride, but without enthusiasm,
At midday we heard that we are doubtless leaving to-
morrow. Everybody knows it in town.
The pretty mannequins of the " Grands Magasins "
brought flowers. One of them took my little green
Moroccan mirror which I had bought in Tunis.
The white fairies have also been here. They were in dark
dresses to-day, but are not the less attractive for that.
Distribution of flowers and of amulets to keep off bad luck.
Nibaudeau joins us ; he has his share.
We all promised to write to each other regularly. There
are to be three pages for all, and a very sentimental one for
each of them in turn.
They went, this time again, to the Zouaves' camp. On
their return I joined them and accompanied them to the
THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY 39
tramway. It was late. I returned to my tent in complete
darkness.
In spite of the sentinels men are slipping out of camp.
For a moment's liberty they are willing to risk many days
in prison. Since they landed they have been sequestered
at the camp.
The town attracts them. Women unceasingly brush past
their tents and excite them. This evening they are drunk
with liberty and youth. They escape.
April 9.
To-day we had a rendezvous for tea at Baudrot's.
" Gainsborough " had a large white hat and a white
and gold dress. On her shoulders a black cape.
" Spain's " eyes were sparkling. She had a red rose in
her bodice.
We took a carriage to go for a drive. We were cross-
ing the rose garden of Alexandria, but I saw nothing.
They talked of the perfume of the blooms, the splendour
of the flowered bushes. I had never imagined gardens
of greater enchantment than the rosery of Alexandria.
I seemed to see only their lips.
April 10.
We went to the Sporting Club in the afternoon — races.
Incomparable elegance. Bewitching visions. I took
snapshots.
We dined on board our old ship the Lorraine, at the
table of Commandant M. whom we like so much. The
vedette slid gently over the smooth surface of the harbour.
After dinner I made a pilgrimage to my cabin. We left
the ship about half-past II. The night was cool and
clear.
4o UNCENSORED LETTERS
April ii.
A ride with N. in the streets of Ramleh. Some good
gallops. We met groups of smartly dressed women
coming from church past the lovely gardens of luxurious
villas. At a certain moment a military motor car passed
in front of us with English soldiers in it. In merry mood
they were driving at a great pace.
Suddenly there was a bang — a tyre burst and the car
darted on to the pavement. One of the " Tommies "
was thrown out. He picked himself up and ran like a
madman. I thought the shock had sent him off his head.
I jumped off my horse and ran after him with all my
might, following the tracks of blood all along the road.
His face and neck were cut by glass, and the wounds were
bleeding profusely. One of his arms, too, had several
deep cuts.
I made the necessary compressions, bound up his face,
neck and arm with chance bandages, and asked for another
car to take him to the hospital. I put him in the charge
of an English doctor who happened to pass by, and who
promised to take him to the hospital. He was my first
wounded patient of the war.
There was a dinner party in the evening at the mess of
the 3rd Battalion. The guests arrived on small donkeys.
A very successful meal — flowers — high spirits — youth and
beauty. Afterwards songs and tricks done by a clown
who is in the service of the ambulances of the regiment.
We accompanied our guests, when they took leave of us,
through the tents where the men are sleeping. In spite of
oneself one's thoughts go beyond the present to the battle-
fields of to-morrow. The moon was shining brightly, on
the white canvas of the tents making them look like tombs.
When we separated we were permitted to kiss the tips
of their fingers.
THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY 41
April 12.
At 4 o'clock in the morning we started with the whole
regiment for a march which was supposed to be over
at 9 o'clock. On the way we met General d'Amade,
who took us 15 kilometres further than was intended and,
without eating or drinking, passed us in review on the
sand in the midday sun. Beneath his eyes black giants
fell. He appeared astonished. Yet the heat was suffo-
cating, and nobody had a drop of water in his flask.
It is useless to think of finding water in this desert.
We returned, and during the 15 kilometres many fell out.
The regiment broke into groups and I galloped from one to
another. They said they were only regaining their breath,
and they would start again in a minute. This return,
dying of thirst and fatigue, is like a mirage of defeat.
The General is not satisfied with us.
At four kilometres from the camp we came on a spring.
Camels had rested there and dirtied it all around, but the
men dash to it and drink. If you stopped them they would
kill you.
One by one they all arrived back. Nobody was missing
at the roll-call. Just as I was leaving the camp to go to
town I heard a shot fired. I was hurriedly fetched, but
it was too late. A Senegalese had blown out his brains.
I forget in tea at Baudrot's the fatigues of the march.
April 13.
A ride with the Colonel this morning. At n o'clock
there was an apparition in my tent. We had a bet that
she would not come. A friend accompanied her.
Broken bits of sentences, broken phrases, a laugh which
did not ring true. With her sunshade she wrote on the
sand. ,
42 UNCENSORED LETTERS
The Colonel sends Bayac to fetch me for lunch, but
without success. I proposed that we should lunch together
at Beau Rivage. Exclamations of joy and surprise.
We had never before escaped thus. " He " was out
partridge shooting. A bewitching little foot swung under
the dress. The ankle is of an irreproachable purity of line.
The flirtation increases. The friend is scandalised and
protests. But what harm is there in only words ; and
shall I not have left in some days ?
We met again in the afternoon at Baudrot's. This
time it was a more indulgent and absent-minded friend who
accompanied her. I proposed a motor drive, or the rose
garden ; but she would only permit a little walk in the
street.
I continued my talk, and made my adieux late. When
I returned to my tent this evening I looked for the marks
of her little feet in the sand.
My tent is bathed in light and love.
April 14.
General d'Amade has given orders to recommence the
march of the other day. This time the men filled their
water-bottles and the sun is less strong. I rejoined the
regiment after it had passed by Aboukir.
The attack was carried out as it had been planned.
There were sham bayonet charges. " This devil of a man
will kill us all," said an officer who knows him, speaking
of General d'Amade. Perhaps. But to-day in any case
nobody fell out.
When we returned to the camp we heard that we are
leaving in a day or two, and that the officers as well as
the soldiers are to be confined to camp from 3 o'clock in
the afternoon.
The Colonel, however, in his affectionate kindness,
THE ALEXANDRIAN DIARY 43
did not want me to be kept in camp. He himself saw that
I should not have any bother. He signed me a special
leave at his own risk, and saw me out of the camp at 3
o'clock. I pretended I was not anxious to go into town,
but my face probably expressed the contrary.
When I announce the date of our departure, the
beautiful head droops, the tender eyes grow misty.
April 15.
At 5 o'clock we broke camp. I only slept a few hours,
so I was tired out.
Korka was in a hurry to pull down my tent. When he
loosened the cords and lifted the pegs, it fell, only making
a little bundle on the ground.
Tents, baggage, horses, all were carried away. Nothing
of us remained. The wind has already by now covered
our tracks on the sand. I left at 7 o'clock. The troops
marched through the town to the sound of bugles.
She told me that she had never received such beautiful
roses. Really Alexandria has the cult of flowers. She
was happy in untying the bouquet, and in putting the
stalks into the vases full of water. Her childlike face
beamed with pleasure. There is an exquisite candour in
her eyes where all her soul is reflected.
We did not speak for a while. Then her laughing eyes
met my despairing ones, and suddenly the expression of
all her being was transformed.
" I, too, have much pain that you are leaving," she said.
There followed moments of indescribable emotion, such
as mark stages in a lifetime. . . . Sadly, I left for my ship —
the Savoie.
We were supposed to be raising anchor in an hour or two.
Nobody could go ashore again.
44 UNCENSORED LETTERS
At 4 o'clock I was alone on deck awaiting our departure,
thinking that all was over. Suddenly Lieutenant A.
came up to me. " We are only leaving at midnight," he
said. "You are free to go ashore."
I jumped into the only carriage crawling on the quay.
I rushed madly back to her house. She was sitting near
the window. Her eyes were red with tears. She did not
understand how I was still there. She began to laugh
amidst her tears.
"Till this evening only." I was on the Savoie at
I o'clock.
April 1 6.
Very early in the morning the Savoie raised anchor.
Korka rushes joyously into my cabin. " It is departed, we."
Slowly, gently we leave the enchanted land. It is
finished — the dream is past.
On reading this over at the last moment before trying
to snatch a little sleep I repeat what I have said before.
For the world I would not distress you, Beloved. Do
not take it all too seriously.
If I wrote novels, plays, would you be jealous of the
heroines ? There is nothing wrong in all these femininities.
Perhaps a beautiful philosophical idea to draw from
them. Before going towards death the soldier throws a
last glance behind him, and he regrets life and therefore
the most beautiful ornament of life — women. There is
nothing permanent. It is confused and delicious like a
beautiful passing dream — and it does not last. . . .
CHAPTER V
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH (FROM THE SHI?)
BEFORE THE DARDANELLES, BETWEEN THE
POINT OF EUROPE AND KOUM KALEH,
April 28 (Morning).
MY VERY DEAR WlFE,
The general attack on the Dardanelles commenced on
the 25th inst. at 5 o'clock in the morning. The English
and French landed on the European coast at two points.
Ours, the 6th Colonial Regiment, was required to land on
the Asiatic coast and take Koum Kaleh.
Our regiment took Koum Kaleh so as to protect the great
disembarkation on the other shore, and only evacuated it
as was prearranged. The 6th has covered itself with
glory, but at what a price !
Out of 2,800 men 734 are down — a quarter !
Killed ' ;;: : V. < 167
Wounded . . . . 459
Missing .. .. 116
There are besides the engineers, the artillery, the boats.
I was doctor in charge of the Koum Kaleh expedition. I
had twenty-one doctors under my orders and three hospital
boats.
I received the heartiest congratulations from General
d'Amade and our immediate chiefs. I am warmly
recommended for five stripes — enthusiasm !
My doctors and hospital attendants have been heroic.
At 9 o'clock General d'Amade and his staff came on
46 UNCENSORED LETTERS
board. The Cross of the Legion of Honour was given to
Lieutenant G., mortally wounded. Captain Braun and
Captain Blanchard and other wounded were presented to
the General who congratulated them. Reports — papers
— propositions. Many gallant deeds. Our regiment is
a regiment of heroes.
I have had sublime stretcher-bearers who will get the
military medal, and whom the General-in-Chief made a
point of congratulating in person.
In Nibaudeau's battalion all the captains are dead or
wounded. Nibaudeau alone is whole.
In another battalion Blanchard was wounded, Braun
is wounded, the Colonel is wounded by the bursting of a
shell just as he was leaving the Chateau d'Europe. Among
the circle round the Colonel a lieutenant was cut in two,
three men were pulverised, two lost their legs, and his
orderly had the whole of his rump carried away.
I have been on board the Duguay-Trouin to see our
wounded there. The wounds are frightful. Of 430
wounded, 345 belong to the 6th Colonial. On board the
Savoie I received on the first day in a few hours 73
wounded in the hospital established on board; all went
admirably.
In disembarking, the first boat had an officer killed and
the whole crew pulverised.
The two engineer officers were killed. One young
lieutenant was hung, and no doubt tortured.
We have made 600 prisoners ; and have killed from 800
to 1,000 Turks, and wounded 3,000 to 4,000.
We had in front of us three infantry regiments, heavy
artillery, howitzers.
The sight of the Dardanelles these last two days and
nights was incomparable — a spectacle unique in the history
of the world.
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 47
One sees a mass of dead on the Koum Kaleh shore. On
the European side Krithia is burning. The distant hills
are being bombarded. There are many ships everywhere.
We are before Yenisher — no longer at 3,200 yards as on
the 25th, 26th and 2/th, but at more than 4,500.
Tired out, driven from their usual sleeping places, the
men are sleeping in every corner — a sleep of lead. At
II p.m. reinforcements from the 6th Regiment are sent
for in haste. Everybody is up in a few minutes except
Korka, who cannot be found. Two companies go ashore
under the command of Commandant C. The others wait
anxiously. The sea is rather rough. There is a moon.
I have seen everything, and noted much. We have
been hit by a number of projectiles.
A Taube circled round us with eight or ten bombs, and
burnt us with an incendiary one.
I send you my diary of that ever memorable day —
April 25, 1915.
I am very well.
THE DIARY
4 a.m. — I wake up as usual. Everything is quiet. I
open my cabin door and look at the place where the men
of the regiment have slept squashed together. They are
dressing slowly, and have begun to move about.
I go into the dining saloon. Officers are having break-
fast and making a bigger meal than usual.
On deck it is hardly light, and the weather is cool.
One can just distinguish to the right the Asiatic coast,
and in front the Gallipoli Peninsula and the Pointe
d'Europe. There are ships everywhere — battleships,
cruisers, torpedo-boats, dredgers ; a whole fleet surrounds
the peninsula. A light mist covers everything, and
48 UNCENSORED LETTERS
white flaky clouds cling to the valleys of the coast.
The Turkish spur appears formidable and very beautiful.
The land resembles waves mounting towards the sky,
rising out of a mist which hides a mysterious unknown.
Day dawns. — We are surrounded by more and more
boats. Before going ashore the colonel of my regiment
entrusts me with his personal papers and his will.
5. — The first gun is fired. British battleships start
operations. We hear a dull thud like heavy cases being
moved in an upstairs room. Then the firing becomes more
rapid, and one imagines a distant storm with unending
echoes.
Everybody is on deck. We look on in awe and wonder.
Smoke is now mixed with the early mists, and the Pointe
d'Europe steams like a cauldron.
5.20. — The Askold, a five-funnelled Russian cruiser
which is in front of us, starts firing. One, two, three shots
are directed on the Asiatic coast.
Our regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Nogues,
has received orders to land at Koum Kaleh in order to
silence the Asiatic batteries and to protect the British
landing-parties. , We do not know the number of Turkish
troops which will be opposed to us. The artillery works
have been partly destroyed by the Allied Fleet. A detach-
ment of British marines landed some weeks ago, and put
the guns of the castle out of action.
The fixed battery of Oranieh shows at its openings the
mouths of enormous cannons. They are certainly useless.
We are told that movable batteries have been established
at Yenisher, and that the formidable guns of In Tepe are
in full working order.
6. — The French battle-cruiser Jeanne cTArc, whose duty
it is to protect the Asiastic landing, comes up and places
herself in front of us. We are on the Transatlantic liner
THE "JEANNE D'ARC" FROM THE "SAVO1K."
TUB "ASKOLO," AND IN FRONT A TRANSPORT OF TROOPS TO
BE LANDED AT KOI M KALEH.
FROM THE "SAVOIE." THE ARTILLERY IS DISEMBARKED AND
TOWED TO KOUM KALEH.
ON THE "SAVOIE." A GUN GOING TO I-'IRE ON KOUM KALEH.
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 49
Savoif, converted into an auxiliary cruiser. Her guns
shell Yenisher.
The Askold joins us. Now their artillery is directed
on the castle of Koum Kaleh. Enormous fountains of
steam, dust, fragments, and flames spring up out of the
old fortress.
The sun pierces the early mist. It emerges above the
Gallipoli hills in the hollow of a bay like an enormous globe
of blood-red fire. It is a tableau presaging glory.
The soldiers on our ship prepare to land ; and we approach
the Asiatic coast.
Lieutenant-Colonel Nogues says " good-bye " to me.
We remain standing together for a few minutes, but with-
out speaking.
6.15. — The soldiers are waiting, armed and fully
equipped. The cyclists place their bicycles in a corner
of the gorgeous first-class dining-saloon. Two soldiers are
put on guard beside them. They get hold of the gramo-
phone, and begin to play as if they were alone in the world.
Their comrades are filling the boats which are waiting.
The sea is absolutely calm, without the slightest ripple.
7. — The Navy, commanded by Admiral Guepratte, gives
the signal for landing. In Besika Bay the Lorraine is
shelling all it can. It is only a diversion, but carried on
with tremendous energy.
Colonel Ruei, commanding the Colonial Brigade, and
head of the Koum Kaleh expedition, is sleeping on a bench.
Lieutenant-Colonel Nogues is stretched on a bench beside
him. TheAskold is sending a rain of shells on Koum Kaleh
and Yenisher.
7.15. — We advance towards Koum Kaleh. Near us a
battle-cruiser bombards Yenisher. Under a very clear
sky of an exquisite blue the silhouette of a town appears.
One can distinguish every house, every wall, every window.
50 UNCENSORED LETTERS
A little in front windmills, with their spreading wings,
topple over under the artillery shots.
The sun, now above Koum Kaleh, bathes us in a golden
light. There is a long golden trail on the sea. Blinded for a
minute, our gunners direct their blows on the Pointe d'Asie.
7.20. — We advance again. The battery of Oranieh
appears clearly. In the opening of a bastion we see a
gun pointing towards the sky. A waterplane is flying to
our left.
7.30. — Our commandant orders the bugle-call " Stand
to arms." The gunners are at their places. Powerful
guns are at our disposal. A first shot is fired. Everybody
is dazed. One's ears hurt ; the blood goes to one's head.
Before we can stuff cotton-wool into our ears a second
and a third shot are fired.
The outline of the village of Yenisher is now ragged.
It is a destruction, certain, methodical, and regular. We
see a big house with a red roof. A first shell marks it
with a black fountain of smoke, which hides it for a minute
from our eyes. It is ruined, and one feels sad ; for perhaps
it has never sheltered other than peaceful people, perhaps
wise and philosophic old men or lovers, only absorbed
in themselves and their own passionate embraces. The
second shot, hitting it full, disembowels it, scattering it
to atoms. The third shell ends its agony.
The Gallipoli Peninsula seems to be on fire. The old
castle of Sedd-el-Bahr is in flames. We hear that the
English are beginning landing operations over there.
On our side the fleet continues its work of preliminary
clearing. Our warships fire unceasingly; and the ship I
am on trembles. The Askold, quite close to us, lets off
each time a broadside of four guns. Green lights flash
out from the thick yellow smoke. The shelling becomes
quicker and fiercer. The noise is prodigious.
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 51
A shell falls a few metres in front of us. From where
did it come ? A second shell sends up a fountain of water
in the same place. Other shells come whistling above our
heads. I count eight in a few minutes. With our very
thin plating one single shell could do us a great deal of
harm.
9 to 9.30. — The first landing operations are effected.
The soldiers had been placed in all the boats at our dis-
posal, and at a given signal had been towed towards
Koum Kaleh Castle. The Russian cruiser had lent launches
and boats, and sent a naval lieutenant with orders to con-
duct the first sections to the beach. . . *< •.
10. — A German aeroplane is flying over us, at a height
of 1,000 metres. I can distinguish with my field-glasses
the black iron crosses. No doubt is felt about its nation-
ality when it lets fall four bombs at 100 metres from our
starboard. We are told that it has already visited and
circled round other ships before turning its attention to
our auxiliary cruiser, the Savoie. It starts off north-
wards, pursued by a French biplane.
Our firing becomes more rapid and fierce. The natural
peculiarity of the outlines of Yenisher is still further in-
creased by the damage done by the shells. The curious
landscape is perforated with enormous holes.
The Gallipoli or European coast is magnificently lighted
up by a radiant sun. Sedd-el-Bahr and the castle seem
to be ruined and evacuated.
The British fleet is still firing, but less fiercely. One
can follow the bursting shrapnel which sends up fountains
of earth and white puffs of smoke.
II. — We can distinguish clearly both African and white
troops beyond the fortress of Koum Kaleh.
The first boats return to the Savoie. In one I see, as
it comes alongside, a wounded man who is being brought
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to us. It is a Russian sailor who has been hit by several
bullets. He lies unconscious at the bottom of the boat ;
his clothes are covered with blood. One bullet has gone
through his arm, a second right through the abdomen,
a third has broken one of his legs. Nothing to be done
for him ; and he dies at 12 o'clock without regaining
consciousness.
12 o'clock. — Yenisher is destroyed. Enough shells have
fallen to prevent the enemy from establishing itself there
for some time. At about eight kilometres away, however,
the fortifications of In Tepe, which are on the top of the hill
behind the river In Tepe Asmak, are still standing, and
continue to fire on Sedd-el-Bahr and the ships anchored
at the entrance of the Dardanelles.
In Tepe constitutes the most important Turkish strong-
hold in these parts. There is said to be a series of 3O5-mm.
guns, and huge siege guns on railway lines which only
emerge from concrete and armoured tunnels to crash down
their shells on us and then disappear again. It is said
that the German Admiral Souchon commands In Tepe.
Our battleships opened fire on In Tepe as soon as it was
light, but they have not silenced it. The Savoie is now
also directing her guns on In Tepe.
Except for our artillerymen who remain near their guns,
and the mechanics and stokers who are doubtless engaged
in a heavy task in the engine-room, the rest of the men,
sailors, fusiliers of the ordnance department, men from
the kitchens, all the soldiers who have not gone ashore,
mounted despatch riders, special stretcher bearers, drivers,
are blocking up the passages, the decks and the bridges
to obtain a good view of the spectacle in front of us.
They do not realise that they themselves are actors in
the great drama. Leaning against the railings they watch
with wide-open eyes, and show their admiration. They
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 53
have lighted their pipes and cigarettes and smoke — quite
happy.
I am astonished to observe that every spectator has his
own field-glasses. From where did they all come ? They
are of every kind of model and form. Then it occurred
to me that many had been lent by sailors of the Savoie
who had picked them up on long deck chairs during the
crossings to and from America.
Animated conversations are being held. No precision
in the details which go from group to group. One hears
the most unexpected and incredible stories. But there
is nobody who does not know and discuss the plans of the
Commander-in Chief. They are contemptuous of the Turk,
crack jokes on the Boche, and measure the chances of the
Allies.
A well-placed shell enchants them. They applaud as
at the theatre. The accent reveals that among these
dilettantes, Toulon is largely represented. They are deter-
mined not to be deprived of the spectacle for a single
minute. If I ask a few men to help with the cleaning of
certain parts of the ship or to do any other job, they im-
mediately answer, " Impossible to leave their paste de
combat!"
The establishment of a hospital on board the Savoie
presented the greatest difficulties. It seemed an almost
hopeless task in any case to prepare and make sanitary
a transport in which thousands of men have been living
crowded together for weeks. And when it had to be done
in the middle of a battle, the difficulties can be imagined.
Everybody declares that the wounded can be attended
to — after. There is no time just now, and all hands are
required for other services. If some doctors are ready
to second me, others think there is nothing to be done.
At half-past 8 I caught sight of a colleague who was
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only just up and was still in slippers. Another was
assiduously taking photographs, and declared that every-
thing was ready.
The autoclave ought to be at work without delay. We
have to sterilise all the bedding, 500 sheets, and 2,000 towels.
I am told that I can only have the stove specialist after
4 o'clock in the afternoon. He cannot leave the engine-
room before. A soldier offers to replace him. I accept.
When the specialist sees I am determined to manage
without him, he appears.
I want the crew's quarters evacuated. The men can-
not be disturbed : there are no orders for that — it is not
possible.
It is exasperating. I open the portholes and say,
" If in ten minutes a clearance is not begun everything
shall be thrown into the sea."
Nearly all the cabins intended for wounded are still
occupied by soldiers. I have them evacuated (by force
when necessary), and place a guard over them. It is my
orderlies who are obliged to empty them. One, for instance,
has eight saddles in it ; another is filled with mail bags.
All this material is heaped unflinchingly into one of the
kitchens.
The hairdressing saloon makes a fine operating theatre.
There are hot and cold water, a number of tip-up basins,
shelves, and cupboards there. Even this room is only
granted to me after diplomatic manoeuvres.
We can now operate without delay. Orderlies are
filling it with sterilised sacks, baskets of bandages and
drugs when our first wounded arrive. From this moment
all pull themselves together ; and in the presence of realities
surpass themselves.
We had soon quite a model hospital, which worked well
and which called forth the congratulations of our chief.
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 55
In a few hours we had treated 119 seriously wounded,
many of whom needed a surgical operation.
I p.m. — We received confirmation from a French soldier
(badly wounded, the lung perforated) that the landing
was successful, but that one boat hit by a large shell has
sunk with a certain number of Senegalese.
1.45. — The French torpedo-boat Trident comes to fetch
munitions for our troops ashore. The Trident tows to
land the boats containing the last contingent of troops.
Two huge boxes containing artillery horses are also landed
on Turkish soil. I am told that the first guns have already
gone an hour before.
2. — A corporal bugler wounded in the leg returns to
the Savoie. He says that the Turks are driven back
beyond the village of Koum Kaleh, but that we have many
wounded.
4. — Another convoy of wounded arrives. They are
fourteen together, and the spectacle is already distressing.
Among them is a lieutenant of the machine-gun section
whose arm has been broken. All human miseries seem
to be united in this little group of warriors lying at the
bottom of the boats.
5. — The second section of artillery is sent off to Koum
Kaleh. Three 75-mm. guns had been placed at the disposal
of Colonel Ruef, the 3rd Battery of the 8th Artillery
Regiment ; but one gun was not landed.
Meanwhile, on the European side we could witness a
prodigious struggle maintained at all points. Enormous
clouds of smoke rise here and there. Battleships thunder,
boats are flying over the blue water coming from
every side, transports laden with troops approach the
shore. I see, at the same time, three hydroplanes in
the air.
On the Asiatic side the battery of Oranieh suddenly
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wakes up. It seemed to be deserted, and its great gun,
of which we could see the mouth, was supposed to be no
longer dangerous. But just below, on the Koum Kaleh
side, the Turks have succeeded in putting into action a
small gun and firing on us.
The cruiser Jeanne d'Arc answers without delay. At
the first shot a geyser of black smoke springs up from the
foot of the Turkish gun. At the second it flies to pieces.
A third, and silence is imposed for ever on the Great Turk
and his insolent gunners.
Evening comes. Serene Nature invites us to peace.
The light becomes soft and the landscape tints blend them-
selves more harmoniously than ever. At the bottom of the
Straits, towards the much-coveted road, the setting sun
reveals Erenkeui, which was in shadow. It is an illumi-
nated spot, like a large flower on the green wooded slopes.
The guns have spared it.
In the scintillating blue sky, where glaucous greens and
incandescent golds mingle, an enormous cloud rises over
Koum Kaleh. It remains there till dark, continually
changing its shape.
Is it an omen of glory or of death ?
The convoys of wounded follow each other rapidly.
From twilight of the 25th till the first rays of dawn the
next day we are leaning over wounded in an atmosphere
of blood, of groans, and of indescribable horrors. We
do not stop for a single minute. When suffering is quieted,
the infernal noise of firing returns to us from outside.
Will all these sacrifices be useless ? Can they hold till
the morning, those of our regiment who are there so near
us ? Hunted down by an enemy ten times superior, shot
at from close range, flooded with machine-gun fire, our
heroic fellows do not move behind their sand trenches.
If the attacks are made in close formation — in German
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 57
style — the 6th Colonial still remain immovable. Only the
" 75 " £uns redouble their fire. The Turks are mown down
in great numbers.
The ships send out flashlights as darkness sets in, and
the spectacle is lighted up as by day.
The wounded still come in. They are mounted on the
deck from the bottom of the boats, and form a long line
of stretchers. We are able to put six wounded at a time
on the big tables of the children's playroom of the Savoif.
Sometimes not even a groan is to be heard ; the silence
is impressive. Our fellows are admirable.
The wounds of this night are, nevertheless, frightful.
A sergeant-major comes back to us only to die. His
chest was crushed by shrapnel ; and for a moment we saw
his heart, almost bare, still beating. There is a Senegalese
with his head torn, a foot missing, and three fingers of a
hand gone. Another black, waiting his turn on a chair, is
asked, " Beaucoup malade ? " " Non, il y en a un peu ! " The
doctor looks. Both legs have been torn off by a shell.
In the middle of the night I was called from the
operating room on deck. It was to see a friend who had
just been brought back wounded. He said he was cold,
then swooned. He is going to die, his wound has bled
profusely. But at last, after our united efforts, he
regained consciousness.
Firing never ceases.
No words can express the anguish of this terrible night.
Your weary, but ever loving, HUSBAND.
CHAPTER VI
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH (ON SHORE)
April 29.
MY DEAREST,
From the lips of our heroes I have now been able to
piece together the connected story of what happened on
shore in and about Koum Kaleh on the 25th and 26th,
during which time I was kept busy on board the Savoie
doing my best for the suffering and binding up their
terrible wounds. I send you this so that in conjunction
with the diary of my day on the Savoie you may gain a
clearer idea of their imperishable bravery.
THE LAND BATTLE OF APRIL 25 — 26
The disembarkation at Koum Kaleh, on the Asiatic
coast of the Dardanelles, was only an episode in the vast
Anglo-French undertaking from April 25 onwards on the
Gallipoli Peninsula. But as a simple demonstration it
was not without its usefulness and its glory.
Although the English marines had already destroyed
the fortifications of Koum Kaleh, on the Asiatic shore, and
of Oranieh, the enemy might have succeeded in bringing
up field artillery and directing under the shelter of these
positions a very annoying fire against the disembarkation
on the European side.
It was suggested for us that we reduce the casemated
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 59
and shell-proof fortress of In Tepe by ranging up our
cannon at Yenisher. This intention was not carried out.
Our troops, though in possession of Koum Kaleh, did not
climb the heights of Yenisher.
After having held considerable forces in check and
carried off 600 Turks as prisoners, we re-embarked on the
night of April 26, according to the plan determined on
beforehand.
This expedition to Koum Kaleh, which I now purpose
to set out in detail, was confined to the 6th Mixed
Colonial Regiment. It was a single body of new forma-
tion, composed of one battalion of white men and two of
black.
The greater part of the Europeans consisted of a fine
body of young recruits from Lyon. The Senegalese
comprised a great number of veterans who had proved
their worth in Morocco ; then at the front in Flanders,
at Ypres and Dixmude. They came from the garrisons
of Nice and Mentone, where, during the severity of the
winter season, we are obliged to keep our black troops
in reserve.
The officers were worthy of such soldiers. They were
for the most part colonial officers. In command of them
was Lieutenant-Colonel Nogues, already known for his
pacification of the Ivory Coast.
To this 6th Colonial Regiment was attached a battery
of four pieces of artillery " 75 " guns of the 8th Regi-
ment, formerly at Nancy, and a company of engineers
of the 1st Division. One section of machine-guns of the
4th Regiment of "Chasseurs d'Afrique" supported our
regular sections of the 6th Colonial.
The Service de Sante of the expedition comprised a
personnel of twenty-one doctors, a chemist, two adminis-
trative officers, distributed among the different corps and
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connected with the divisional ambulance. The three
boats Savoie, Finh Long and Ceylon prepared to take
charge of the wounded.
The theatre of operations is Homer's Troad. Koum
Kaleh is on the left bank of the Scamander (Mendereh),
where Agamemnon's thousand ships were anchored.
Yenisher is the ancient Sigeum. Straight in front rises
the august profile of the hill called the " Tomb of Achilles."
Troy lies in the plain. For thirty centuries the country-
side has kept its immortal beauty. Mount Ida, covered
with snow, seems still to be awaiting the coming of a God.
The troops were transported from Lemnos during the
night April 24 — 25 in the boats as follows : In the auxiliary
cruiser Savoie, the staff and the ist Battalion ; on the
State transport Vinh Long, the 3rd Battalion ; on the
steamer Carthage, the 2nd Battalion. The artillery was
on the Theodore Mante, and the landing stores on the
Ceylon. The troops were ready to disembark at daybreak.
The squadron specially charged to protect the opera-
tions were commanded by Admiral Guepratte. It con-
sisted of the Jaureguiberry, the Henri IF., the Jeanne
d'Arc, the Askold, the Latouche Treville, some torpedo-
boats for the high seas like the Poignard, some English
destroyers, some barges, and some mine-sweepers.
In consequence of certain misunderstandings, some of
the warships did not arrive in time, and others, like the
Finh Long, did not anchor at their assigned post. There
was delay in the preparation of the artillery.
Near us the first cannon shots were fired at 5.30 a.m.
by the Askold, and at 6 by the Jeanne d'Arc on Koum
Kaleh and Yenisher. The Henri IF. and the Jauregui-
berry, anchored further to the north towards the entrance
to the Dardanelles, bombarded In Tepe and the neigh-
bouring heights.
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 61
The men of the 6th Colonial were in their ordinary field
costume of great-coat and kepi. The Senegalese wore a
dark-blue great-coat, the red " chechia " covered with
blue cotton material. The uniform of the Europeans was
a light blue, in quite good condition and new. Everyone
had taken off his tunic and found the great-coat with the
corners turned up sufficient.
At 6 o'clock the men, with knapsacks on their backs,
crowded on the decks, and only awaited the order to get on
board the boats which were ranged along the ship sides.
It was only at 8.30 that the first detachment left the Vinh
Long. It consisted of the staff of the 3rd Battalion, the
loth Company, and the machine-gun section. The boats
were towed by a steam cutter of the Russian cruiser Askold
under the direction of one of its officers.
The cutter began to manoeuvre to get alongside the
great quay which was in front of the port on the west side ;
but Commandant Nibaudeau saw immediately that this
ruined wharf, which had no landing stage, would be difficult
to mount; and, moreover, it was under the fire of the
hostile musketry. It would be better to get a footing
at the south-west extremity of the fort on a beach pro-
vided besides with a wooden jetty. The Russian officer
insisted, however, on making straight for the quay.
The ship's boats, thrown into disorder by the current,
got entangled among the quay pillars, whilst a sharp fire
was directed on them from the shore. The machine-gun
section replied. A shell fell into the machine-gun boat
and sank it. Nibaudeau begged the Russian officer to
steer them towards the beach on the southern side ; but
the manoeuvre seemed too slow to Captain Brison and
Lieutenant Molinier, who threw themselves into the water.
They were carried by the stream on to the wooden jetty.
The native troops followed their chief, and, for the most
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part, gained the shore. The situation of the soldiers
remaining on board became intolerable. They were tran-
shipped on to another boat which put them ashore.
The other convoys transported unhindered their crowd
of Colonial and Senegalese soldiers in boats towed in single
file. There were some accidents. A boat containing a
dozen Senegalese turned upside down alongside the Savoie.
The same thing happened near the Carthage, where a
corporal and several African soldiers were drowned.
However the operation was on the whole remarkably
successful.
Whilst the landing was going on the enemy artillery was
not idle. The Savoie and the Finh Long were particularly
aimed at. German aeroplanes dropped their bombs, which
fell all around the Savoie.
It was on the south of the old fort, between the beach
and the ramparts, that the Colonials got on shore. From
there it was necessary to get right through the fort, which
was said to have been mined by the enemy.
Captain Brison dashed ahead to scale the wall through
the breaches caused S_f the cannon. In consequence of
his wound he had thrown off his tunic, and rushed on in
his shirt-sleeves and with bare head. As the weather was
cool, he had over his shoulders a soldier's coat. Lieutenant
Bonavita, cane in hand, followed his chief.
The fort was not occupied, but the artillery and machine-
guns of the Turkish infantry at the south of the village
spread death in our ranks. One machine-gun situated in
a mill was fortunately destroyed by the cannon of the
fleet.
The ancient fortress of Koum Kaleh, in spite of its ruined
condition and its recent wreckage, retained an imposing
appearance. It consisted of an enormous mass of stone
and earth, still filled with arms and munitions. Modern
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 63
Naval batteries, dynamited by the English, still remained,
surrounded by their shells.
Captain Brison's company crossed the fortress rapidly,
and found itself at the entry of the village. It was then
that Lieutenant Bonavita, marching in front of his section,
was struck by a ball which killed him on the spot.
The village of Koum Kaleh, bombarded by the English
fleet in February, presented the familiar appearance of
towns which have been sacked. On each side of the main
street, which opened on the east gate of the castle, houses
— perhaps some hundred — stand gutted, with only frag-
ments of wall, desolate and in ruins.
Some had preserved signs of their former occupation.
A watchmaker's shop still had its signboard flapping in
the wind, and a display of cuckoo-clocks.
Over this necropolis two birds kept watch — two storks,
probably native to the place, that no noise of battles
disturbed. They remained perched on a roof during the
quarrel between France and Turkey. But before the end
of the day it seems that one of them was killed.
At half-past 10 the enemy, who had lain in ambush in
the village, fled before Brison's bayonets. Meanwhile
two companies of the battalion " Chabbert," which had
just landed, turn the fort on the west side. About II
o'clock the battalion " Nibaudeau " arrived at the south
outskirts of the village after having completely carried
all before it.
Thereon the organised defence of the position began,
resting on the left on the river Mendereh (Scamander).
The company " Lejeune " formed the left wing, whilst the
company " Blanchard " and certain companies of the
battalion " Simonin " was spread out in front of Oranieh
between the village and the sea. The firing at this moment
increased in intensity. There were very many wounded.
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At half-past I p.m. the first piece of artillery was dis-
embarked. The two rafts conveying the horses followed
without delay. It was then that the Trident came along-
side the Savoie and the Fink Long to fetch munitions and
tow in the last file of boats, eight in number, containing
the last units of the 6th Regiment.
Of four pieces of "75 " placed at the disposition of
Colonel Ruef only three were disembarked. One piece,
placed in reserve, was not used. The other two were
marvellously successful.
The battalion " Chabbert " attempted to get forward
on the right towards Oranieh, but it met with a stern
resistance on the part of a body of the enemy entrenched
in the cemetery. At 2.30 the order was given to carry the
cemetery. Companies " Lejeune " and " Distel " were
strengthened by two sections of machine-guns. One piece
of artillery was brought forward to the front on the
shoulders of the men, and began its work.
The fire was well directed ; the tombstones were quickly
demolished, but in their deep trenches the Turks did not
seem to suffer much. When the preparation by the artil-
lery seemed sufficient the Company "Lejeune" advanced.
It was obliged to defile, platoon by platoon, because of
the narrowness of the ground, which between the lake
and the river Mendereh is not more than 100 metres
wide.
A terrible fusillade began. The company " Distel "
followed the company " Lejeune " and held the right.
But no sooner were the wire entanglements passed than the
leading company, " Lejeune," on a level with the lake,
suffered serious losses.
The musketry fire from the cemetery did not slacken ;
the enemy's range was excellent. A fusillade coming
from the left bank of the Mendereh took us by surprise on
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 65
our flank. We had to stay where we were for the time
being, always replying as best we could.
At that moment Lieutenant Barren was caught by a
ball in the abdomen. Finding himself mortally wounded,
he made no complaint and courageously awaited the end.
His agony was prolonged and no one could abate his
suffering or relieve it.
When night came he was buried where he lay. Then
the units of the company " Lejeune," who were in a critical
position, retired on their centre.
Darkness was coming on. It was necessary to establish
ourselves firmly on the ground gained. The enemy,
superior in number, was, we learned, expecting reinforce-
ments. Since 2 o'clock, to the south of Yenisher a column,
a kilometre long, had been observed marching on that town.
At 6 o'clock the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, with two
sections of machine-guns and one" 75," occupied the east
and south-east quarters. The 1st Battalion and two sec-
tions of machine-guns occupied the south quarter up to
the sea. The 7th Company was placed in general reserve ;
the 6th in the old castle. These two units had entrusted
to them the important duty of bringing up supplies —
a task rendered more arduous by the wide extent of the
front and the sandy beach.
The Chief of the Expedition requested the naval forces
to guard the flank on the south-south-east with artillery and
flash-lights during the night. The barbed wire, with which
Colonel Nogues was amply provided, was placed before
our lines. The east and south-east fronts of the village
had been barricaded by the engineers and lined with the
company held in general reserve. There was also a battery
of artillery to break down the entanglements between the
lake and the Mendereh.
Our dispositions had not been completed at 8.30, when
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the Turks flung themselves impetuously against us. The
attack, very vehement, was driven home, and, at certain
points (as against the company " de Queral ") by a large
body of men.
Some came creeping, others in full view, with furious
firing. All, when they reached the trenches, charged with
the bayonet. Our line held together. The " 75 " gun
stopped the assault, and inflicted considerable losses.
Everywhere bayonet met bayonet.
On our left the trenches were abandoned before the
mounting wave of the Turks ; but a few moments after-
wards they were brilliantly reoccupied at the point of the
bayonet. The enemy hesitated. A wonderful calm en-
sued. We took advantage of it to place our entanglements,
supplementing the barbed wire. As we have no poles,
to fix them in the ground, we make use of the hundreds
of dead bodies lying in front of us.
Two sections of the supporting troops are sent to the
company " de Queral," which has experienced the greatest
loss. Other reserve forces succeed in satisfying all the
demands for stores, but they are worn out.
The number of the wounded is already great. They
are got together at the dressing station situated at the
south-east angle of the old castle, and transported one
after another by steam-launches to the Savoie.
It was between 1 1 o'clock and noon that we received on
the Savoie the first wounded. Others followed without
pause. There were in all on the first day 119 men.
It was especially after 8 o'clock that they poured in.
From then till 6 o'clock in the morning all the doctors
had their hands full — no pause in the operations and
dressings.
The Vinh Long, like the Savoie, received a great number.
This vessel, being a transport of the Navy, had good hospital
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 67
accommodation. The doctor there with the means at his
disposal was able to manage admirably.
It was not the same with the Savoit, where every-
thing had to be created. It was a serious task to trans-
form such a vessel into a hospital in a few hours while the
fighting was going on. Only half the berths were empty
after the disembarkation of the troops. The sailors'
sleeping quarters were requisitioned, but it was also neces-
sary to displace all the marines.
In spite of every sort of difficulty, by midday we had
arranged 200 beds and 30x3 hammocks which we had steri-
lised, an operating theatre in what was formerly the shaving
saloon, where six wounded men could be operated upon
or have their wounds dressed at the same time.
All the serviceable linen on board — sheets, napkins, had
been sterilised. The wounded, laid on stretchers, which
were left in the boats, were hoisted on board by means of
baskets.
The Savoif had drawn near to Koum Kaleh to facilitate
the work of supplying reinforcements. The noise of the
fusillade was distinctly heard ; and we could hear also that
coming from the European side of the peninsula, but the
tone was different.
The cannon of the fleet did not cease firing. Their
intermittent salvos joined their roar to the sharper sound
of the musketry in the counter-attacks. The furious
struggle, the tremendous expenditure of fighting strength
the horror of the strife, continued all night. At 2.30, at
3.30, at 4 in the morning the enemy attacked impetuously.
During the night a million cartridges were burnt.
The morning rose on a memorable scene. Before us
corpses were piled up fora space of 20010400 metres along
the front. The long stretch of broken ground was
coloured red with blood.
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The first rays of the sun flashed on the steel of arms
abandoned all around. The soldiers of the 6th Colonial
could then understand the excellence of their deeds. The
regiment had added a page to history of which France
might well be proud.
About 6 o'clock (April 26) the attack on the cemetery
was to have been delivered, but for some unknown
reason there was a delay. At 7 o'clock a fresh attack
seemed to be in preparation from the cemetery. As a
matter of fact Turks came out from their trenches with
their arms in their hands, but they waved at the same time
white handkerchiefs and flags. Suspecting a ruse common
enough at other fronts, the Colonel ordered the firing to be
kept up.
Notwithstanding this, some 60 to 70 Turks left the
trench, threw down their weapons and raised their arms
above their heads. The firing was stopped and the
prisoners led into our lines. Following their example,
other Turks quitted their trenches and came forward
with many gestures of amity, without, however, raising
their arms.
In the confusion some shots were fired on either side, but
Turkish officers quickly intervened and gave the signal
" Cease firing ! " over and over again. As their first
groups showed that it was their real intention to surrender,
the Colonel gave the order to cease fire. They delivered
up their arms to our Colonial infantry.
Behind them followed numerous other groups of Turks,
but when they came within our lines they refused to lay
down their arms. We tried to explain. The interpreters
failed to make themselves understood.
Captain Roeckel of the reserve then came forward, and
of his own accord offered to go and talk the matter over
with the chief commandant of the Turkish forces. He
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 69
spoke Arabic quite well. However, he took with him the
soldier Langlois as an interpreter. Both were conducted
to the cemetery, where a Turkish officer of high rank was
standing.
The confusion in our own lines rapidly grew worse,
because by the side of the Turks who agreed to surrender
there were many others who refused to deliver up their
arms, and were even not disinclined to take those of our
men. Profiting by the disorder, some Turks slipped into
the village and barricaded themselves in the houses. To
begin to fire again on the dissentients seemed a matter
of urgency, but that would have been to abandon our two
representatives to their fate, and perhaps to deprive us of
the last arrangement possible.
While this was going on, General d'Amade arrived at
the Chateau d'Asie. He gave the order to form our lines
at all hazards, and consequently to begin firing again.
Captain Roeckel, accompanied by two Turkish officers
and two soldiers, coming back, made signs not to fire. He
waved his k6pi. At the first salvos Captain Roeckel
was taken quickly back towards the Turkish lines, " hands
up." The enemy did not offer any retaliation against
this officer, whose loyal conduct was beyond suspicion. He
was held prisoner.
In the ensuing scuffle a section of machine-guns of the
3rd Company fell by surprise into the hands of the enemy.
A very serious effort was made to get it back, but sharp-
shooters ambuscaded in the houses of the village caused us
great losses. Captains de Queral and Distel were mortally
wounded. A " 75 " gun swept away everything that
stood upright and at length we remained masters of the
field. The Turks ran in every direction. Next we had
to dislodge some 80 to 100 men who were concealed in
the ruins of the village. One after another the houses
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were surrounded. In a cellar a little grey ass was found
which had been let down there by some device or other.
The Turks sold their lives dearly. There was one house
where a small number were entrenched, which could not
be silenced. Cannon had to be brought up. A " 75 "
gun shelled the place, but during the storm of shells the
besieged men continued to fire. Here Captain Ferrero,
commandant of engineers, was killed. His colleague,
Lieutenant Lefort, was dragged into a house and dis-
appeared. Elsewhere calm settled over the whole line till
II o'clock a.m.
During the the recapture of the village a captain and
eight men were taken prisoners. This officer, who was
a German, spoke French quite well. He was asked what
had become of Lieutenant Lefort. It was generally believed
that he had been tortured and hung.
Colonel Nogues questioned the prisoners one after the
other. No one could give any information about him.
Several said it was no use looking for him. A German
prisoner was fastened to a stake. His life was promised him
if he would say what had become of our comrade. After a
short time he was delivered over to a platoon for execution.
The Colonials, who had suffered much in this new affair
of the village, and who believed their adversaries were act-
ing in bad faith, excitedly surrounded the prisoners.
Already shining blades were flashing from their scabbards.
Some of the Senegalese stamped with their feet and gesti-
culated furiously. Stray shots were let fly.
At this critical moment Colonel Nogues used his great
authority over the native troops to calm them. For all
that, they demanded immediate execution — a course in
full accord with all the laws of war after sentence delivered.
Since dawn (May 26) the warships had been engaged in
the bombardment of In Tepe. They had also rained a
THE LANDING AT KOUM KALEH 71
great number of projectiles on the ruins of Yenisher, and
directed attacks on the reinforcements coming by different
routes to the succour of Koum Kaleh. The Savoit and
the Askold fired principally against the Turkish troops
entrenched along the Mendereh and in the cemetery.
At 2 o'clock, after some very fortunate shots from the
Savoif and the " 75 " guns it became impossible for
them to hold the trenches in the cemetery and we saw the
Turks waving their white flags. We took 600 prisoners.
The brave 6th Colonial had engaged four Turkish
regiments commanded by German officers and field
artillery. The day had turned out exceedingly well
for our arms, since we had succeeded in landing in full
force, taken Koum Kaleh, and gained a considerable
advantage over an enemy in entrenched positions and
superior in number.
The Turks left 2,000 dead on the field and surrendered
to us a whole battalion.
At 7 Colonel Ruef gave the order for re-embarkation.
Very strict arrangements had been made to avoid any
sort of surprise, but the enemy were too dispirited, and
did not trouble us. Not one rifle was fired ; but the bat-
teries of In Tepe dropped some shells on the shore whilst
the troops and stores were being got together.
It was by one of these that Lieutenant-Colonel Nogues
was wounded in the arm, all about him were badly hurt.
Lieutenant Weingling lost his head and was cut to pieces ;
the secretaries, the orderlies, the messengers (" agents de
liaison ") had a great number of dead and wounded.
Lieutenant de Chevigny and the Surgeon-MajorLossouarn
were flung into the air and bruised. They sustained a
bad nervous shock.
A curious phenomenon took place among some men
who were lying with their backs against the wall of the old
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castle waiting their turn to embark. The sudden crumbling
of the stones caused it to fall and break their skulls.
There they were, stretched alongside one another in tragic
attitudes.
Colonel Nogues' orderly, a very brave Senegalese attached
for a long time to his master, was seriously injured. He
had in his hand a box of eggs which was blown to frag-
ments and a rug which doubtless underwent a like fate.
Almost fainting from loss of blood, the faithful servant
was only intent on recovering the rug.
The embarkation went on in the most orderly manner.
As soon as the batteries of In Tepe entered into action the
ships of our squadron replied. They approached nearer
shore whilst the transports changed their anchorage to
get down to Koum Kaleh to re-embark the troops.
The Poignard had brought to the Savoie its share of
prisoners. They were Mussulman Turks — tall men, and
with a determined expression. They seemed very tired.
Their uniform of khaki colour looked in very good con-
dition. There were very few Christians among them and
the medical inspection showed that they bore traces of
blows.
The Koum Kaleh affair cost us 167 dead, 459 wounded,
and 116 missing, 742 men bors de combat, out of our full
force. The wounded received every care on the Savoie,
the Finh Long, and the Ceylon. Later they were trans-
ported on to the hospital ship Duguay-Trouin, which set
out immediately for Alexandria.
The Koum Kaleh landing was a small but creditable
episode for our arms, and reflected favourably on the land
and sea forces which took part and on the chiefs who were
in command. Among the heroic annals of the French
and the English in the Dardanelles it deserves an
honourable place.
THK FRENCH AUXILIARY CRUISER " SAVOIK," HEKORK
KOUM K AM II.
WOUNDED BEING HOISTED ON HOARD THE "SAVOIE.
CHAPTER VII
SEDD-EL-BAHR
April 29.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
We have been waiting to go ashore on the European
side since n o'clock last night. After lunch (the Colonel
stood us champagne) Colonel Ruef and his staff go ashore.
Colonel Nogues and staff of our regiment and a few men
landed at 3 p.m.
We passed the Cornwallis, which was bombarding over
our heads. Krithia was in flames. Columns of smoke
kilometres long hid the sky on one side.
We approached a small boat which is up against what the
Tommies call " the horse of Troy." This is the River Clydt,
of Glasgow, which was run ashore to make a landing stage.
I cross "the horse of Troy," and I step on the sacred
Turkish soil. Digging has begun on the left where the
English are sleeping.
A great deal of movement, many troops, tents, horses,
artillery. Human detritus of every kind. The Chateau
d'Europe is in ruins. An enemy aeroplane has just
dropped four or five bombs on the camp.
We return to the Savoif. Krithia is burning. Shells
from In Tepe are falling near the camp of the 4th Colonial.
April 30.
" Marmites " are falling on the French camp at Sedd-el-
Bahr. Yesterday aviatiks directed the enemy's fire. We
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can see them burst in the midst of this medley of men and
material. They are coming from In Tepe (8 a.m.). The
ships try to silence them, Cornwallis, Jaureguibery,
Henri IV. An exciting duel, magnificent light. At 10.30
an aeroplane of burs arrives. At last ! ... In Tepe
continues to fire.
At 11.30 Admiral Guepratte passes in front of us in a
boat from the Henri IV . We salute him.
At I o'clock the Henri IV., which was at 1,000 yards to
our left, changes her anchorage and passes between us
and the Yenisher coast. We can see that she has been hit.
At 2 o'clock we hear that she has been hit six times by the
In Tepe batteries. One shell fell on the bridge ; the
captain and six officers were wounded. In all there are
two dead and twelve wounded.
At 2.30 we received our orders to go ashore. At 3
we left the Savoie. We said good-bye to Captain
Tourrette. Half an hour later we were in the much-
bombarded Sedd-el-Bahr Bay. Work is going on
steadily. There are a great many troops, much
material, and a field hospital. I photograph one of the
holes made by a " marmite." I visit the director of the
Service de Sante.
We go straight on, mounting the semi-circular hills
which form an arena where so much heroism was displayed
that the place will be for ever immortal. We climb up
the paths which cross the town of Sedd-el-Bahr. The
sappers are repairing them. Artillery horses and men
are engaged on the work.
Houses are burst open, many are in atoms. There is not
a corner that has escaped shells and bullets. We find,
however, a little orchard intact. There are already five or
six tents there. A cemetery is destroyed, also a mosque
close to it.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 75
Nature remains beautiful and serene. The weather is
delicious. Flowers everywhere where man has not
destroyed them. We arrive on the crest of the plateau
which dominates the bay where the landings took place in
spite of a determined resistance.
From here one can see everything. In this clear
Eastern atmosphere it is easy to distinguish each man,
each horse. The ships make an ideal target, and the
Rivfr Clyde the best of all. The great ruined castle,
whiter than ever from the breaches, fills one whole side of
the horizon. At the foot, under its walls, the staff of
General d'Amade is camping.
We are led along roads full of flowers and bordered with
trees, through very pretty narrow lanes, to our post.
It is in a grove of young olive trees. Digging begins
immediately, and a shelter is made for me. A few
" marmites " fall. Fusillade and cannonade in front. A
hole one yard deep is dug and my camp-bed placed
in it. There is a stone wall on one side, and over the
hole tree trunks and branches. We dine in absolute dark-
ness, with shells flying over our heads. A ferocious " 75 "
behind us fires and fires. Sharp and disagreeable noise.
After having established the dressing station I go to
bed. It is very cold. An enormous red moon rises above
Morto Bay. For a time all is quiet, and a night bird begins
to sing.
Then suddenly shouts from all sides : " Fire, fire, rapid
fire " ; for as there is not yet a telephone orders must be
passed from mouth to mouth. This death clamour is
terrifying. The " 75 " obeys. It is a group of Turks who
are flying, and the " 75 " mows them down as they go.
I am waked many times in the night by this rapid fire
of the " 75." All night fusillade attacks, counter-attacks
at some 100 metres from us. We all keep calm.
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May i.
Up at 4 o'clock. The " 75 " was still firing behind us ;
then it gradually ceased. The cannonade seemed further
off. At intervals there were broadsides from the ships.
I got up rather frozen, but quite well. Another dug-
out has been made for me. It is a ditch two and a half
yards long by one yard deep. A royal tomb — rather damp
at the bottom, for there is water here. A floor was made
of wooden planks from a room in the village near Sedd-
el-Bahr. On the four sides it is lined with stones;
branches and earth over the top. There is a staircase of
two steps. A lot of my good fellows worked at arranging
my house; and when finished they placed at the door a
bunch of poppies and daisies. I was quite touched.
I went for a walk on either side to locate my position. On
the right where a steep cliff goes down to the sea (Morto
Bay) are lines of defence, trenches, and huge holes made by
" marmites." Pieces of lead everywhere in the fields.
Below towards the sea is a cypress wood, giving shade
and perfumed with thyme. It is a Turkish cemetery — a
place of peace. Stone monuments. A battery of " 75 "
guns is camped there. I talked for a few minutes with
Commandant Holtzapfel, then with his doctor.
I returned at 6 o'clock by the big hollow road where a
Turkish regiment was installed. They fled, leaving all
their belongings behind, — tents, clothes, sacks (which have
been searched and their contents scattered), cartridges,
shells, grenades, cases, biscuits, papers, glasses, drinking
bottles, brass basins with brass rings.
Between 9 p.m. and II p.m. cannonade, fusillade. Our
" 75 " fired over our heads, while In Tepe from one side and
Achi Baba in a direct line tried to silence them. The English
battery to our left has just been relieved (at this hour).
Colonel Ruef 's horse has been killed. When a shell comes
SEDD-EL-BAHR 77
one throws oneself on the ground, till, whistling, it passes.
During the night furious attacks on the 4th Colonial,
Metropolitan, and the Zouaves near Morto Bay.
May 2.
The noise died down. We had the advantage. I got
up at daybreak, stiff, tired, headachy, but ready for the
day's work all the same.
I went to the dressing station, then on to the plateau,
where fighting had been in progress. I took an epaulette
from a Turkish captain. Many dead. Horrible wounds.
Bayonets used. Magnificent men, the Turks as well as
ours. Turks, whites, blacks were all mixed up. Men of
the 1 75th, 6th, 4th, and Zouaves.
I saw General Masnou and Colonel Nogues, who will be
promoted to be commander of a brigade. I arranged the
service at the dressing station. Returned to our original
camp at 9.30. I ate bully beef, an orange, no wine or coffee.
Afterwards I slept. It was divine. I saw Commandant
Tourrette and Dr. Rouquet of the Savoie, which starts
to-morrow for France. They have promised to give you
news of me, and the Turkish epaulette.
M. Huguenin was found dead, struck by many bullets.
I went to the staff officers' camp. Nibaudeau or Simonin
will command the 6th Regiment. The 1 75th is com-
manded by a lieutenant, the only surviving officer. Not
a single officer of the engineers remains.
Our " 75 's " and a few " 65 " mountain guns began to
fire again intermittently. Towards 8 o'clock rapid firing,
always increasing in intensity. Never have I witnessed
such horrible, distressing scenes of anguish.
The day after Koum Kaleh I wrote you at length.
But the shortest notes have the best chance of getting
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through. Some hours before the attack I received your
letter, and it was the best loved thing in the world.
JOE.
May 3.
MY DEAR WIFE,
After the fight of Koum Kaleh we landed on the Gallipoli
Peninsula, and since then there has been fighting con-
tinually. It is a very deadly campaign. The night
of the ist to 2nd of May was one of great anxiety, my
regiment constantly charged with the bayonet ; and it
is only due to our brave soldiers that we were able to hold
our own.
A fusillade continued along the whole line. An unin-
terrupted cannonade. Shells fell in our camp. We felt
that all was at stake.
At 2 o'clock the 6th Colonial was sent for. It left at
4 o'clock. Would it be in time ? Fearful din.
At daybreak I went towards the English side. They were
shaving, washing, eating, imperturbable under fire. My
dressing station, which was at the angle of the camp and
where I was receiving a great many wounded, was too far
off. I was there with Dr. Neel and Dr. Riffat, my secretary
Borella, and Korka. It had to be moved forward.
It was difficult to find a site where our wounded would
be in safety from bullets and shells and yet not too far
from the firing line. I followed the Morto Bay road
and met a number of wounded — Lieutenant Petiot mor-
tally wounded. I looked after and encouraged him.
We heard that Commandant Chabbert had been killed.
The battle was raging. I went further forward. Artil-
lery cases, dead men, dead horses, police, doctors, above
all guns which thundered and deafened us.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 79
I followed the viaduct. Near the front, under the last
arch, General d'Amade was leaning over the wounded.
He did not speak.
I wanted to establish my dressing station at the northern
end of the viaduct road, but the English were cooking and
eating there, just as if they were having a picnic. I tried
on the right, where there was a better place still. It
should be established at the base of Hill 200.
A crowd of wounded arrived — fearful sights. General
d'Amade came. Morphine injections to all. Sent them to
the rear on stretcher carriages and mule basket chairs.
After 1.30 I worked near the viaduct. At 5 o'clock, after
going to the hospital, I returned, after having eaten a
piece of bully beef — same meal as this morning. I
established myself again near the bridge. At nightfall
there was a fearful cannonade. I went for some rest to
the telephonists' trench. I slept sitting, my grey rug
over my shoulders. I was very thirsty. The water is
almost salt, and makes one thirsty.
During the night from the 2nd to 3rd May one regiment
alone spent 40,000 cartridges. We heard that if the 6th
Regiment (my own) had not gone to the help of the 4th
during the night of 1st to 2nd the French Expeditionary
Force would have been swept into the sea.
May 4.
One could follow in the distance all the phases of the
fight. Once our lines weakened for a moment. A charge,
a counter-attack in a torrent of blood. During the night
a hail of shells, cries, deafening noises ; and above all the
" 75*8 " continued to fire furiously.
Nibaudeau came to my hut in the night, as it is better
protected. At 4 o'clock he was called for, and went.
There was panic for a moment on the road. A man was
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carrying the breech of a cannon. The flag must be
saved. . . .
I went to the front about 4 o'clock. I went to the
dressing station and all along the line. I lunched with
Colonel Nogues ; came back for a siesta in my dug-out.
But I could not sleep ; it was impossible. The " 75 "
began again, then the " 120."
I went to the beach, where shells were still falling con-
tinually. Fountains of earth, fountains of water. Nine
horses killed, two men. The night was pretty quiet. I
slept at the camp. No serious attacks, few wounded.
Your JOE.
May 5.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
I have written you direct by the medium of the auxi-
liary cruiser Savoie, which returns to France to get troops.
It is safer. Your letters arrive very irregularly. Doubtless
the English papers keep you informed about our operations.
We are advancing slowly, the English on the west, and
ourselves on the east, mounting northwards towards
Constantinople. The fighting is very violent and the re-
sistance serious.
We have lost, among others, Captain Blanchard and
Major Chabbert. When I saw Blanchard he was already
dead-cold. He had said so often that I should save him if
he were wounded. At Koum Kaleh a bullet had glanced off
the carotid, and I prescribed eight or ten days' rest for
him. He was not cured. He could have escaped this
fresh butchery ; but he wanted to be there. He refused
to remain behind while the fighting was so hard for the
others, and he fell, struck by a Turkish bullet. His first
bandage was still round his neck. The other was bathed
A VIEW OK THE "RIVER CLYDE" AND THE CAMP TAKEN FROM
THE WEST PLATFORM OF SEDU-EL-BAHR CASTLB.
THE RUNS OF SEDD-EL-BAHR AND THE CASTLE OF EUROPE.
BRITISH TROOPS RESTING. AUSTRALIAN NEIGHBOURS TO THE
FRENCH TROOrS NEAR SEDD-EI.-BAHR.
LIFE HAS BEGUN AGAIN AROUND THE NEWLY-MADE GRAVES.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 81
with blood. It is in the stomach this time — a bullet. He
suffered for a few minutes, spoke; then sleep overcame
him. He died without regaining consciousness.
Another officer you knew at Haiphong, Lieutenant
Mangin, came alone to the dressing station. He was
holding his arm. His face was soiled with thick clotted
blood. He had a wound in the nose, which was cut in
two. His elbow was shattered. He was stoical, almost
happy to be getting out of it so lightly.
Nature here is so beautiful ; the light so pure. It is in
a field of marguerites and poppies that the shells are falling,
and in which the " marmites " are digging immense holes.
The terrific din begins at nightfall. Yesterday evening
it was the Queen Elizabeth which began the shelling. Every
shot was like a tremendous thunder-clap repeated in
numberless echoes. It is a rain of shells, a noise of hell,
flashes of fire.
When this does not cease for a single minute the whole
night you can imagine in what a state one is.
We were shelled the other evening from three different
directions. In my underground shelter I did not count
for more than the most humble worm. Man has imagined
horrors which far surpass the cataclysms of Nature.
If you could guess or imagine the atmosphere in which
we live ! It is such complete novelty. I adapt myself
to everything.
May 5.
The graves of Lieutenant Huguenin and Captain Blan-
chard are marked. There are already other cemeteries
for our regiment. That of the I75th Regiment is a little
further on, with no special boundary. Before leaving the
graves I see a Senegalese bring some flowers (poppies) ;
he puts them down just on Blanchard's grave.
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I imagine the suffering of their loved ones ; and I move
away so that these men may not see my tears. Around
the graves there is life, movement, all the disorder of
troops who are going to fight — some cooking, others sleep-
ing, others mending their clothes, talking or cleaning their
rifles. I lunch with the Colonel in the midst of the camp.
I photographed Captain Blanchard's grave. After
lunch, a torrid heat (this morning we were freezing), I
rode back across the plain. Enormous holes from shells ;
sacks, rugs, rifles in deserted trenches. There are also
untouched corners where one's vision is rested by the sight
of a field of daisies and poppies.
On arriving at the camp I saw a German aviatik over a
machine gun. A "75 " was firing at it but without success.
A biplane drove it off. It is said that three new Turkish
regiments with fresh artillery will attack us to-night.
But we shall be ready for them, and reinforcements are
arriving at last. A Senegalese battalion came this morning
from Alexandria. To-night a regiment is arriving ! On
the yth another !
Siesta at the camp. Respite from the " 75 " and all
other guns from I till 4 p.m. I heard, while dining with
Colonel Nogues, Captain Malafosse, and Captain Vermersch,
that there will be a general attack at n o'clock to-
morrow.
I have received your letter of the nth April from Hamp-
stead. I will send you all my pay, perhaps by Clervoix.
I think that is the safest way.
I still hope to have you to myself again. I will sur-
round you with tenderness, and all our days will be
happy together. Your JOE.
My love to your family. You don't tell me of your
sister. How is she ?
SEDD-EL-BAHR 83
May 6.
DEAREST WIFE,
At 9 o'clock, after having put all in order, I left the camp
on horseback. My new second horse " Merle," ridden by
my new groom Clerc, fell from a bridge, his legs in the air,
and hurt himself. My own horse took half an hour to
make up his mind to cross the bridge. After that we had
to go along the beach, which is continually bombarded.
. . . Lunch with Colonel Nogues. At 1 1 o'clock the attack.
I went to the dressing station, and a few minutes later
a long line of wounded began to arrive. It went on unin-
terruptedly till 2 o'clock the next morning. Fusillade,
cannonade, wounded.
Sometimes they were very brave, and watched the
doctors' movements without a gesture. Some felt them-
selves die. Blood, sufferings, cries, blood, groans. We
bent over all these horrors, and tried to do something.
There was a dirty, penetrating dust which the wind sent
into every corner and into the open wounds.
I went on to the battlefield. There were soldiers hiding
in the trenches. One could hardly see them, so great
was the disorder around. English guns, French guns,
stretcher-bearers with wounded. And it went on and on.
One's imagination can suggest nothing like the reality. I
could wish that there was no remembrance in my brain
of those hours of blood and of death.
Weak minds were upset. Few were able to keep a
real and immediate notion of things. There is a physi-
cal exaltation which deforms and obscures everything
and makes one incapable of reasoning.
At nightfall my hands were still sticky with blood and
antiseptics. I ate half a tin of bully beef, biscuits and an
orange, and drank some wine. The wounded continued
to come in. There was no rest. We were all tired out
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and looked like ghosts, dirty, horrid, excited. All the
same, when we came together, the same feelings of pity
and reprobation united us. Nothing in the world is worse
than war.
May 7.
Towards I or 2 o'clock — I don't know the time exactly
— some of the other doctors and I lay full length in the
dust, side by side with the sick and wounded. We were
covered only by a very light khaki tent cloth, which
afforded but scanty protection, and did not even keep
out the cold.
And it was cold, not to say very cold — perhaps 8° to
10°. Dim candles were our only means of light ; and many
of them flickered in the open air. Soon our rest was
interrupted by a long line of stretcher-bearers and the
moans of more wounded. Here came a lieutenant, there
a captain. Many of our men are wounded in the left hand.
The moral is not so good. Those who were hit did not
hide their despondency, and the word retreat was often
mentioned. The men were frightfully tired. We were
at the mercy of any surprise attack. Captain 1'Hopital
was killed, Mangin wounded, also Bouriner and numbers
of second lieutenants, both white and coloured. The
terrible wholesale slaughter continues. The sea was
so near, and there was something terrible in the pitch
dark night. On all sides calls, sudden commands, groans !
About 2.30 there was an attack. There was nobody to
help remove our wounded. I left the dressing station for
a minute to procure stretcher-bearers. In case of a retire-
ment our wounded would have fallen into the hands of
the Turks. Moreover, dressings were getting scarce, and
I had to get more.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 85
At length we started out into the night, dead with fatigue.
We passed bodies of men lying wrapped in the heavy sleep
of exhaustion, entirely careless of death, which was on the
watch for them. If a shell were to come, it would work
but little apparent change among so many men asleep :
how distinguish the quick from the dead ?
A great English howitzer showed up clearly against the
moon, which at about 2.30 appeared above the horizon.
Our " 75 " started again. How slow daylight was in
coming !
I had a dear letter from you of April 15. Bless you !
At 10 o'clock there was a general attack. I was to have
lunched with Colonel Nogues, but he was much too far
away, and I could not go and find him, so I lunched alone :
bully beef, coffee and cheese.
On my return, under a fire of bullets and shrapnel, we
proceeded to bury Captain 1'Hopital. Corporal Bocquin,
who is a priest, said the prayers.
Arms were presented. The men were drawn up in no
particular order, but their respect was sincere. It was
a touching scene !
The fight never ceased. We French formed the pivot,
whilst the English were to take Krithia.
Dined at the headquarters of Colonel Nogues.
I have a wretched cold, with a touch of laryngitis ;.
and am hoarse, shivery, and thoroughly out of sorts.
Bullets pass whistling by into the ravine near the spring
(such a pretty one !) and near the ruined huts and dwelling-
houses. Just now a shell grazed against the stones on the
top of the ridge, and sent splinters flying in all directions.
One splinter landed in the saucepan in which I had just
been boiling my syringe !
I went to bed royally in a dug-out in camp. I found
it very snug, as I rolled myself in two blankets, and pulled
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my cap over my ears. Gradually I got warm and fell
asleep. In the night there was a lively fusillade. It
seemed to come from the right of us. Could we have been
outflanked ? Later the guns gave their usual morning
salute. To-day the division Bailloud begins to land on
the peninsula and reinforce us.
May 8.
I went to breakfast with Colonel Nogues in his ruined
billet. The ravine is quite charming and full of troops,
poppies and ox-eye daisies. Also there is a spring ;
likewise the kitchens !
During breakfast General d'Amade came in. I took
his photo. He talked for a long time with Colonel Nogues.
Some wine from Samos cheered our hearts ! The Colonel
had just received his wife's photo. He has been made
a full colonel.
After breakfast I went to the dressing station, where
the wounded were arriving at intervals.
Ever brilliant sunshine, ever the same eternal dust !
At about 5.30 a general attack took place against the
Turkish positions on Krithia and against the whole line.
It was supported by artillery. It was a formidable con-
certed action, the most intense there has been since
April 25. Battleships and guns of great and little calibre
were all firing at once. It was terrifying, astounding and
overwhelming.
At 6. 20 the cannonade was still going on.
No dinner to-day. My orderly came back, but could
find no one to give me any.
Suddenly from the ridges which rise perpendicularly
above us, facing the cliff, some soldiers — little patches of
red — came scrambling excitedly down, some of them
SEDD-EL-BAHR 87
wounded. They were retreating! The gendarmes and
Raulloin rushed towards them, threatening them with
their revolvers. I heard one go off, but did not turn
round.
At about 8 I was at the dressing station under the cliff.
Numberless wounded were arriving, and blood, groans,
and confusion seemed everywhere. It was next to im-
possible to see. I am afraid candles are getting scarce.
Bullets were whistling and shells bursting quite close to
us.
We laid the poor fellows in rows, just as you see bodies
in the Morgue. Here lay a Zouave, shot through the
breast ; and his groans were piteous to hear. There some
poor blacks were actually laughing with the intensity of
their sufferings ! A medley it seemed of surgical dressings,
bandages soaked in blood, clothes torn to ribbons ! Would
the ambulances never come ? Ever more wounded were
arriving ! ! Your exhausted JOE.
May 9.
DEAREST WIFE,
This morning the firing began again louder than ever.
Our artillery, less active and decisive during the night,
was answered by a hurricane of shot. Instead of being
induced to surrender, the Turks delivered a counter-
attack. Wounded men were now succeeded by wounded
officers.
Captain Ripert was one of them — the last of his batta-
lion, the 2nd. He had a bullet in his chest. Nevertheless
he was full of confidence. He is a fine fellow, and he
knows how to inspire with fresh confidence those who
have lost heart.
All night (a cold one) the struggle went on. Attacks
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and counter-attacks, and always our " 75'$ " overtopped
all others in the intensity of their fury. We captured
six Maxims, and gained the crest of the hill. Our safety
is now assured.
My horse was wounded before my eyes by a bullet on
the left side of his face.
At 5 we were up. I managed to get carts in which to
move the wounded. Sixteen poor fellows tramped away
over the fields ; four more went in a carriage.
Then I went to inspect the battlefield. Wounded
everywhere ! The killed lay in confused heaps which
increased as you advanced. Some of their attitudes were
extraordinary. Some were in postures of attack, others
of defence. A little soldier of the 6th had his hands behind
him. He had been shot from behind, and his skull was
blown to bits.
The bodies had swollen, and their uniforms were tight
and narrow ! It was awful ! It might have been a
drunken orgy — a sinister one ! Shell cases were scattered
everywhere, masses of shining copper.
At 10 o'clock I went up again on to the plateau, where
shells and " marmites " were still flying around.
I came back for lunch, but no one had thought of
my food ! The Colonel is away ; so is Bayec. At
last they brought me a doubtful-looking mess, which I
threw away. When I returned to the camp Corporal
Riffat got me something to eat. I had a craving for some
wine, but there was nothing but water, which was salty
and flavoured with permanganate !
After a siesta, a wash and a shave, things began to look
a little less black. I went down to the beach. There I
found the chief officer of the Service de Sante. I told him
of the men's utter exhaustion. I also saw the commissariat
officer. Then I went off to look for drugs, etc., and Riffat
SEDD-EL-BAHR 89
and I returned to camp. Dinner was again most frugal ;
but I got a quart of wine, and that made up for
a lot !
I saw M. Julien, who is so good-natured. I gave him
my films for Alexandria.
Perhaps I may get some sleep, as things are certainly
somewhat quieter. On my left, somewhere in the neigh-
bourhood of the English camp, I can hear the soldiers
singing your favourite English hymns.
Your letter of April 9 to hand. I am glad to find that
my correspondence arrives better than I expected. As
to the photos, I am having them developed at Alexandria.
I will send you the films as soon as they are returned
to me. When I have the prints I will despatch them to
you with particulars. I am going to try to affix parti-
culars to each film beforehand, but it is very difficult.
My health is excellent. Please write often — it is such a
solace to me. Your devoted JOE.
May 10.
DEAREST,
I was asleep in my dug-out when the " 75 " began its
usual " fanfare," and it lasted without the slightest inter-
ruption until 8 o'clock. My sleep became a sort of night-
mare.
Through the " leitmotif " of the " 75*8 " I could dis-
tinguish the more or less violent firing of the guns from
the battleships ; then voices. How wonderful the pene-
tration of the human voice !
I went to my dressing station under the cliff, and there
I met all the doctors and Nibaudeau, whom I had not
seen for several days. He told us of his experiences in
the awful struggle and of his narrow escapes. All about
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him fell. Certainly his is a lucky star ! I receive
250 frcs., an indemnity for provisions.
At last our regiment, which is completely exhausted,
is to be given a rest for two or three days ! It has perished
almost entirely.
One single officer of the regiment is left. That is
Nibaudeau, who is in command, and he is not yet a major.
Two battalions are commanded by adjutants. Captain
Tell is missing. He had gone on a reconnoitring expedi-
tion with a patrol of four men. He must have been taken
prisoner by the Turks.
Commandant Simonin did not fall into their hands.
He had been wounded and had been taken on a ship.
Away from the scene of action the officers, when
questioned, are most optimistic. You hear from one,
" Oh ! but there are not such great losses as all that ! "
from another, " Oh ! it's because the officers expose
themselves too recklessly ! " Many fine young sub-
lieutenants will no doubt now realise for themselves
what things are really like.
The medical staff has been overworked, but we have
not lost a single doctor. Many orderlies and stretcher-
bearers have been killed or wounded.
Nibaudeau has seen d'Amade. He told him that he
could not count on the 6th Regiment, which was done for.
It has been rumoured for three days that d'Amade will
be recalled and replaced by Gouraud.
The military situation improves a little every day, but
at the price of enormous sacrifices. The Turkish resist-
ance is evidently different from what one thought it would
be. All the extremity of the Gallipoli Peninsula, and
doubtless the whole peninsula, has been transformed into
a fortress. There is not an inch of country which has not
been dug into trenches. Certain lines are formidable.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 91
It was absolutely necessary, all the same, to land troops
and gain ground on which to establish infantry, artil-
lery, ammunition, provisions. A foothold was conquered,
occupied, fortified, defended, and is now almost impreg-
nable. All had to be rapidly executed. We took trenches
in bayonet charges. On certain nights the charge of the
French was as irresistible as in the best days of the
Napoleonic epoch. You can imagine the cost !
How heroic one must be to rush forward thus — in the
night, under a cannonade of which nothing in the world
can give you an idea ! And we, at the dressing station,
saw the results. What a mass of wounded, what horrors !
One after another our friends were brought to us.
We have now enough room not to be too anxious. We
shall not be thrown into the sea, as they hoped. We shall
hold our positions. . . .
The English advance also ; more slowly than had been
foreseen, I think. They have the western side (the left)
of the peninsula, we the east (the right). The first ridge
— very serious (300 metres) we have taken. In front there
is still another ridge, higher and harder to take — Achi
Baba (594 metres).
The shells pour from it. At 8 this morning a dozen
large " marmites " passed over us and exploded from 100
to 200 yards behind. It is said that the Goeben ventured
out towards Chanak and fired on Sedd-el-Bahr.
At In Tepe there is a formidable battery on an armoured
train — housed in a tunnel commanded by the German
Admiral, Sonchon. It is very irritating. On the 25th,
26th and 2jth the fleet threw 900 shells on In Tepe. Result
nil, except that the disembarkation was not worried too
much, In Tepe being obliged to conceal itself.
Since then there have been continual interchanges with
In Tepe. Yesterday evening, as a result of more exact
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range-finding by French and English aeroplanes, the heavy
French land artillery demolished In Tepe. It is a great
success. It is said that the armoured train exploded,
and with it all the supplies and munitions.
My health is excellent, my spirits perfect. I coughed
a lot in the night. All the same I feel all right. I don't
know what they will do with me. I am head doctor of
an annihilated regiment. Doubtless I shall follow the
fortunes of my regiment. For several days it has been
in the rear. It is possible that we shall be put in reserve
elsewhere — Tenedos, Lemnos . . .
Two days ago my fine grey horse was wounded by a
bullet in the left cheek. It is not serious.
Thanks to my continual efforts, we have never lacked
bandages and medicines ; but it has been a great struggle.
I have sent you a Turkish sash clasp. There are quan-
ties of them. That which I send you is very valuable.
Colonel Nogues picked it up specially for you the most
awful day — the 2nd of May.
I will try to give you explanations of my photographs.
It is wonderful that I can think of taking them ! I put a
date on each film.
I slept several nights on the bare ground. Our nights
are sometimes very cold, so yesterday I slept on my
camp-bed with a great-coat over me (I was naturally
fully dressed), my waterproof, my two rugs, my head
wrapped up in a scarf — the white Japanese one — and
my kepi.
We lack nothing. Corned beef abounds, also bread.
There are potatoes, cold meat — mutton and beef — choco-
late, rum. . . . When I go among the English and talk
to them, they invite me to share with them. They are
better provided than we, although they have less bread
and less rum. They exchange things with our troopers.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 93
Naturally there are no inhabitants here, and not a
house standing. Nature is marvellous. It is as beautiful
as Provence, and it is Spring ! ! !
Buy a good map of the Dardanelles. You can follow
our operations. Doubtless the English illustrated papers
give admirable contour maps. Please keep the best, and
make a collection. Don't send good illustrated papers.
They don't get here, and then we can seldom read. One's
brain is numbed.
An English aeroplane hovers above my head, and Achi
Baba has been throwing shrapnel at it for some moments.
It bursts round it in very white clouds. A few lumps of
lead fall near us.
You don't know how active our " 75*8 " have been.
Some batteries haven't ceased firing night and day for
twenty to thirty hours. Some of these were only a few
yards off.
The noise of the " 75*8 " is fierce, cracking, sharp,
shrill and peculiarly ear-splitting.
Two days ago (it was relatively very calm) I went to the
very front to dine with Colonel Nogu£s. There were
Captain Vennersch, who is a friend of Charles, and Captain
Malafosse. During dinner a dozen "77" shells were
sent against the ruined house in which we were. A shell
made some stones fall from the broken wall sheltering us.
To-day we introduced ourselves to the Divisional-
Surgeon Piquet, of Bailloud's division. We breakfasted
in the old camp under the tree, and after a siesta visited
the new encampment, which is in front of the cemetery of
cypresses.
About 3 p.m. shells and " marmites " were thick around
us. The English Captain Keene comes to visit us. He
tells us that the English are 1,800 yards from Krithia,
and that they have made 300 Turkish prisoners.
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I had a chance meeting with Silly, commandant of the
engineers. He is in Bailloud's division, and will perhaps
be C.O. of the engineers of the Oriental Expeditionary
Force when Gouraud comes.
I wrote some postcards to my family. I cannot write
letters to anyone but you.
What dangers avoided already ! My dear little wife,
don't fear for your Joe. He is brave, and does his duty
with a good heart, but doesn't expose himself uselessly.
Besides it is best to be a fatalist.
I have a firm conviction that I shall return — wounded
or not. My love for you sustains me, and gives me every
sort of courage. I love you more and more, and I wish to
live so as to love you till my last breath.
Tell each member of your family how much I think of
them, and how affectionately I am attached to them.
Au revoir, my beloved wife. Your TOE
May 12.
MY BELOVED WIFE,
About 5 o'clock this morning, after breakfast at the
dressing station, I went with Dr. Lossouarn to see
Colonel Nogues. Lean and ascetic-looking, there he stood
smiling and bright, with his newly acquired Cross of the
Legion of Honour pinned on his breast. He had been
awarded it this very morning in the pouring rain out in
the ravine. Shells were raining too ! Vermersch got the
Cross, too, and Malafosse a stripe.
The Colonel's tent backs on the ruins of a house. In
front there is a little path made of rubble, and on this
there are five or six shell cases, out of which numbers of
bright flowers are growing. It has been labelled by some
wag " Villa Marie-Louise." I took a photo of it all.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 95
Colonel Nogues has been wounded a second time, and
again in the left arm. He is tired, but his intellect is as
keen as ever, and his ideas are always so sound and
original.
I came back to our primitive camp at night, and
succeeded in sleeping until a tremendous cannonade
waked me. It was only 10 o'clock. It was so terrifying
and increased so much in violence that I got up and tried
to see what was happening. Could one of our sections
have been driven in ?
The artillery was firing madly and furiously, without a
moment's respite. Two hours later a little calm super-
vened. But at three in the morning there were fresh and
violent explosions, which, although not of quite such
intensity, were, nevertheless, sufficiently nerve-racking.
We are told that there were no sorties on the part of the
Turks. Nothing at all extraordinary happened. Merely
an enormous expenditure of ammunition on both sides.
I slept once more.
May 13.
A very quiet night — certainly the quietest since April 25.
Only the " 75 " was to be heard in the plain, and even
this calmed down about 10.35, ano^ we slept. . . .
Four o'clock ! Where in the world am I ? In Alex-
andria ? Still at sea ? . . . Pulling myself together, I set
to work to get the ambulance canteens into order, and
have things made clean and ship-shape. The dressing
station really begins to look smart !
To check any illusion that an awakening without the
aid of gunfire might occasion, a poor mangled body was
brought in on a stretcher. The brain protruded, and the
head was bathed in blood ; there was also a great gash in
the side.
96 UNCENSORED LETTERS
It was Bacon, the adjutant, who was only promoted a
few days ago. He began the campaign as corporal, and
had come from China. He has been buried by the side of
Huguenin.
As I was just writing this some shells from a " 75 "
made their appearance. One fell only about twenty-five
yards from me, right among the horses. Nothing happened,
however, for it buried itself in the earth and did not explode.
This was followed by shrapnel and other shells. At
II o'clock it was still going on, and it was not till 2 that
they began to tire of it. A siesta in tropical heat !
Some huge " marmites " have been exploding quite
close to our battle cruisers : first a bang, then a whistling
sound, then a long pause followed by a formidable rain of
shells in the water. Our " Rimaillot " was replying.
This sort of thing has been going on over our heads while
we took our dip in the sea.
I have just received The Times you sent. It gives but
a scanty notice of our epic landing at Koum Kaleh.
Yesterday at 8 a patient came in with a bullet in his
arm and chest. He was a European " agent de liaison."
We now hear that the Goliath was sunk by a German
destroyer, mistaken for an English one. Good-night,
dearest. JOE.
May 14.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
I read last night in my " earth-hole " your letter coming
from Alexandria. Mrs. de R sent it on to me with a
most friendly letter from herself.
For the first time on Turkish soil I have set up my tent,
which is still lined inside with its delicate yellow cloth,
and fragrant with the memory of my feminine visitors of
A CANVAS-COVERED TRK.NCH AT .<-EDD-KL- HAHR.
A CORNER OK THE BATTLEFIELD AKTKK THK LANDING AT
SEDD-EL-BAHR. IAKEN MAY 3, 1915.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 97
Ramleh. It is at the foot of the cliff of Hill 200, at a
height of 10 metres ; and it dominates the plain towards
Morto Bay and the Asiatic coast beyond, with Koum Kaleh
and In Tepe. Till now I have been underground.
This territory, conquered inch by inch, has been dearly
paid for. It is dotted with graves. From where I am
writing I can see that of Blanchard. It is owing to these
brave men that we are here, and that the Turks are
beginning to feel our power.
Shells are passing over our heads. They come from
Achi Baba (591 feet). Those from In Tepe, which is
opposite us, are no longer to be feared ; at any rate, for
the last three days they have been silent. The fleet say
it is their shells which destroyed the battery. It is more
probably our Rimaillot guns, of Sedd-el-Bahr, which
really silenced it. It is impossible to express what we owe
to this wonderful gun. The landing was becoming very
difficult. Each day twenty or thirty shells came from
In Tepe, which caused no end of trouble and killed people
constantly.
On the blue sea in front of me, where till yesterday
there were hundreds of boats, I can now only see one.
We hear that they are letting mines drift down. It is
said, too, that the English armoured cruiser Goliath
was sunk last night by a Turkish mine right in front
of us, in Morto Bay. All must have been over in a
few minutes. Borella heard the cries of the drowning
sailors.
A moving ceremony took place yesterday morning at
8 o'clock. Our regiment had passed the night in reserve.
For once our brave fellows had slept. The morning of
the 1 2th was damp and dark. It was drizzling with rain.
The men were preparing their coffee and having a
wash.
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Suddenly a messenger galloped up, stopping in front of
Major Nibaudeau, and gave him a slip of paper. The
bugle called us together, and we arrived in field equipment.
From the muddy trench came a new brilliantly coloured
standard, proudly carried by a dirty little man without
stripes or decorations. This man showed magnificent
heroism at Koum Kaleh, and in this very place too, leading
the charge under a hail of bullets.
Other soldiers, worn out, badly dressed, covered with
mud, escorted the flag. They have been chosen among all
the regiment to be decorated with the military medal.
Among them is a Senegalese sergeant.
General d'Amade arrived on foot. It was raining, and
we were very cold. A feeling of utmost depression weighed
on us as the bugle sounded again and we got into line.
Where is the regiment ? Out of 3,800 men there remain
only 1,200. The General gave only one Cross — to the
chief. All deserve it.
Clouds came up. It rained. On the Asiatic coast floated
huge white snow flakes. We are benumbed.
" This evening the regiment will be placed in the fore-
front of the first line," says the General. Well, it is
ready.
I like Nibaudeau very much. He is wonderfully brave,
and exercises a great influence over all. In spite of the
rain we had a little lunch in his honour, at which a captain
of the English staff was present. We had York ham,
champagne, etc.
Nibaudeau and I proposed a toast to all the newly
promoted officers. I think I told you that several soldiers
were made officers during the battle, as there was not a
single original officer left.
Just at this moment an English aeroplane is passing
over our heads. It is greeted with shrapnel, but it is
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continuing on its way, and the General will hear some
interesting details of enemy dispositions.
Yesterday, about 6 o'clock, an aeroplane was followed
for nearly an hour by exploding shrapnel, which made a
long white trail behind it. The noise was appalling.
Rifles also were directed on the machine. When his
report was given in, the Turkish batteries, discovered by
the pilot, passed a mauvais quart d"hfure.
Another incident. A servant to one of my young
doctors in the first battalion was kept by his duties in the
second line. This little man, who was of very peaceful
appearance, and was a peasant of Central France, wanted
very badly " to go and kill some Turks." He explained
to the Major that his father took part in the Italian
campaign, and that he wanted to emulate him.
" When I return to my village I want to be able to
talk." " But it is particularly dangerous over there.
You have plenty of time," said the doctor to him. " Have
patience." "I beg you to let me go and see a little."
So the little peasant went to see. He distributed cartridges
to his comrades in the first line of trenches. A bullet
killed him outright.
This evening's communique" (which I have just been
reading by candle light) reports that General d'Amade,
who is ill, has been invalided home, and that General
Gouraud is taking his place. )f{j io\
Out of three generals one has had the mouth and jaw
shattered.
In an English division, out of three generals two have
been wounded and the third killed. The English losses
are very heavy. 3nT
Your country and mine mourn together for brave men,
little wife of mine. ,n3rn >u fnT^u.
T ! 893C3
• a
ioo UNCENSORED LETTERS
May 15.
DEAR WIFE,
As I write these words shells are falling again on the
plain and in the sea. . . . Peace is not of this world.
I send you a map of the Gallipoli Peninsula. We have
quantities of maps, but only one is good, and that one I
am obliged to keep. You can judge, however, by the one
you will receive of the small importance of the portion of
the Gallipoli Peninsula conquered by us. However, you
must not think that the resistance will always be as strong.
A detachment of Australians has got a footing at Gaba
Tepe, north and to the west of Achi Baba, and is main-
taining itself there. It hopes to join hands with us in a
few days.
My wounded horse " Dix Avril " is better. He begins
to eat again without too much difficulty. I have ex-
changed my second horse for a half-bred, brown, with an
excellent temper. He is called " Merle." He belonged
to Chabbert, who has been killed. We cannot use our
horses much, space being so limited ; but all the same
I have ridden once or twice. Thousands of shells have
threatened our horses, and now they no longer take heed
of them.
At the landing place the Australians left 600 corpses.
After a formidable cannonade, without an equal in history,
the Turks waited for the British. Sheltered in deep
entrenchments, they had numbers of machine guns, which
decimated our allies.
It is a tour de force to have effected such a landing,
without a parallel of its kind !
The weather is hot. I had a heavy siesta in the tent.
The colours one sees to-day are admirable. The plain is
a swarm of men, horses, guns, munitions, and provision
cases ! The sea is of the bluest blue, and black ships are
SEDD-EL-BAHR 101
lying on it — battleships. A huge fountain of water rises
now and then. It is a " marmite " which has fallen into
the sea. Friendly aeroplanes fly over us unceasingly.
I have done several pencil sketches to please you. We
have leisure, because trench warfare has commenced. And
so you have this rambling letter from
Your devoted JOB.
May 1 6.
DEAREST,
Things are really approaching the ideal ! Last night
we slept untroubled by the fusillade, which, for the matter
of that, has subsided slightly to-day.
General Gouraud passed through our camp about 7.30
this morning. He found us quiet save for a few shells and
" marmites " in the plain. The General was up at 4 this
morning. He inspected the troops unaccompanied.
I am going to call on Colonel Nogues. He is in the first
line with General Gouraud. General d'Amade is going
home. We are sorry; both officers and men had great
confidence in him. ^
I had a visit in my tent from M. M., the commissariat
officer who has come to the Sedd-el-Bahr beach. Seven-
teen horses were killed this morning by one shell.
I had a bathe in the sea this afternoon.
Commandant Nibaudeau has come to the base for three
days after three days in the trenches. We dined together
at 7 o'clock in camp No. 2 (in front of the Cemetery of
Cypresses). I came back at 9.
About 9 much shrapnel. An artillery attack on the
part of the Turks. A fearful din.
I saw a regiment pass on its way to reinforce our men.
As things got calmer we allowed ourselves a little sleep.
102 UNCENSORED LETTERS
During dinner at camp No. 2, three aeroplanes were
hovering about ; while in the Dardanelles, directly facing
us, we saw enacted a drama which we could not altogether
understand.
An English battle-cruiser was being attacked by a per-
fect tornado of shells, which came, apparently, from the
Dardanelles forts. The cruiser steamed ahead rapidly,
thundering furiously with her guns again and again. Then
she turned a little, fired a broadside and went off. Enor-
mous sprays of water encircled her as she went.
May 17.
I received to-day your letters of 23rd and 24th April.
My health is perfect, but the climate is rather warm.
We want for nothing, and all goes well. I will send two
or three more letters to Paris — then I will despatch them
to London.
An intense shelling of Commandant Nibaudeau's camp
by the Turks. At 9 o'clock we also had a taste, a shell
whistling above our heads and burying itself in the ground
a few yards further on. A few men were wounded.
All day important sapping and mining work going on.
The Turks made up their minds we were going to attack.
They have been firing all day. In consequence there is
a large number of wounded scattered about everywhere
in ones or twos.
Bathed at 5 o'clock amid a hail of " marmites " and
shells.
6.40 went to dinner with Colonel Nogues at " Villa
Marie-Louise " ; Colonel Grillot, Dr. Duchene Marulas,
and Malafosse there, but not Captain Vermersch, who has
taken command of a battalion.
Menu. — White wine, fish, chicken, green peas, oranges,
SEDD-EL-BAHR 103
apricots, jam and biscuits. These delicacies were sent by
M. Mauras from the Lorraine. She only arrived this
morning, and takes her departure to-night.
In the night an uninterrupted fusillade, supported at
times (2.30 and 4) by big guns.
May 1 8.
My grey horse died this morning between i and 2 a.m.
He was wounded in the head on the 8th, but seemed
practically well again. He is the victim, no doubt, of a
spent bullet. Yesterday was a day of spent bullets !
An intense bombardment on the " Pylones " road.
I had another bath in the sea.
I dined with Colonel Nogues and Drs. Lapus and
Malafosse.
Losses of the metropolitan brigade : —
I75th Regiment .. 2185 .. 55 officers.
R.M.A 2516 .. 47 „
4701 102
Colonel Niegert came in during dinner — a fine energetic
figure !
The attack this evening at 10 o'clock was meant, accord-
ing to settled plan, to gain 80 yards to straighten the line.
So well were the dispositions made, that it was effected
without any loss.
Good-night, Beloved. Your JOE.
May 19.
MY OWN WIFE,
I breakfasted alone this morning in my tent. Sent for
some grub to Nibaudeau.
There is a report that a submarine was sunk about
4 o'clock this afternoon by English vessels in Morto Bay.
104 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I had dinner with Colonel Nogues at his new head-
quarters of the Colonial Brigade. I hear that Captain
Bouchet, of Kien An, was killed here on May 9.
The dressing station has been moved. It is now at the
extreme south-east of the cliff, to the left of Colonel Nogues'
old headquarters. The ground is stony, steep and hilly,
and quite well wooded. The Colonel has got his tent
under a fig tree. I placed mine just beyond, almost
touching the cliff, getting it, with a little manipulation,
on to a platform bordered by stones. Drastic disinfection
was needed.
It is fearfully hard work moving all our goods and
chattels !
We continue to lead a less stirring life, although on the
somewhat narrow space we occupy (6 to 7 kilometres
long) the " marmites " rain with pretty lively insistence.
We are nevertheless all in the best of spirits, and reckon
on beating the Turks in a decisive fashion. Health
perfect.
Perhaps you will be interested in some personal remarks
and intimate notes about your own hubby.
Do you want to know how I am dressed ? Nearly
always in the same way. Blue-grey kepi like a " soldat
de deuxieme classe," dark blue tunic with plenty of pockets,
which I bought in Paris, trousers of soldier's cloth accruing
from the 2ist at Paris, black gaiters (the old ones I had in
Tonking), and soldier's boots. I am very comfortable
in all this. It is a little hot in the day-time, but in the
evening and night it is all needed. My boots are so much
like slippers that there is no need to take them off to
sleep. Underneath, as linen, I have a thin cotton vest
and a shirt, drawers of fine cotton and wool socks.
I change my linen every day. Korka is quite used to
it. He immediately washes everything, generally in his
SEDD-EL-BAHR 105
" gamelle " (porringer), and an hour afterwards the things
are dry and ready to be worn again. I change my collar
every day, but it is not ironed.
I have only missed a bath in my indiarubber tub four
or five times. Whenever things were quiet I seized the
opportunity. Pears' soap ! An extravagance of Alex-
andria ! I was three or four days without shaving.
Since the ijth our life has been quite regular. Breakfast
of coffee, piece of chocolate, and mouldy bread ; then a
little walk round with a shovel under my arm — a good
weapon when shells or bullets are flying round. On my
return I shave when I have time. At 4 I go down to the
sea. Korka carries a towel, a rug stolen from the Turks
for use as a carpet, and always his porringer to pour water
on feet dirtied with sand. The bath is exquisite.
This evening a huge " marmite " fell 10 yards away
from us, and above our heads the English reply of shells
covers us with a vault of steel, dissolving, hissing and
noisy. To finish off the picture, Allied aeroplanes soar
deliciously into the blue sky. Very white shrapnel follows
them and marks their path — fortunately afar off. The
fuses make holes in the sand, or fizzle in the blue water.
I go to bed fully dressed, though occasionally, to save
my tunic, I hang it over the back of a chair (I have a
chair !), and sleep in my overcoat. Round my neck I
have the white Japanese scarf, which always conjures up
a little of Japan. I roll my legs in the brown military
rug which you saw at Toulon, and over all I spread the
fine green one.
I often awake in the night, and there is always something
to do. Sometimes I wear a kepi when it is cold, unless I
wrap up my head in the Japanese stuff.
I take my meals sometimes with the doctors of my
regiment, sometimes with the Commandant Nibaudeau,
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and most often with Colonel Nogues. When he was in the
front lines I risked bullets and shells for the pleasure of
his company. He is a charming man, of lively intelligence
and a kind heart.
May 22.
To-day we attacked vigorously at 10 o'clock, aided by
a formidable artillery fire. The result should be excellent,
but has not yet prevented us from being flooded by shells
and " marmites."
I have received — I know not from whom (perhaps
through your kindness) — a whole heap of journals and
illustrated papers : Illustration, Daily Mail, Vie Parisienne,
Cri de Paris, etc. Is it you ? At last one begins to be
able to read. I have passed days and days without the
least wish to look at anything but the picture which we
are giving ourselves — and it's no ordinary one.
Love, love, love. TOE
May 24.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
As usual, a great deal of noise — bullets, shrapnel, etc.
" Marmites " are still falling, but we lead a less agitated
life. Yesterday evening an English captain, a very nice
man, came to see us. He told us that the British troops
are advancing successfully, if rather slowly. We hear
Italy will fight with us — perhaps even here.
Extremely good health. We are changing our camp
for six days or longer. We shall be in trenches. Last
night I slept in my tent, but this morning some bullets
went through it. Everybody is in good spirits, and feels
certain of beating the Turks in decisive fashion.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 107
May 26.
To-day, during my luncheon with Colonel Nogues in
the trenches, I received your letter from Paris of the
igth and 3oth of April. And at the beginning you speak
about the loss of your letters and mine.
It is certain that your letters did not reach me for a
long while. Fortunately we were at Alexandria, but I did
not know if you were ill or not. It is all forgotten now.
Many letters have been delayed and many others destroyed.
They did not wish it known in France where we were
and what we were going to do. Besides, it is sufficient
to turn to our itinerary to understand the enormous
hesitation of the Governments. We expected to operate
with Greece, and Greece held off just when we arrived at
Lemnos.
Everyone complained of the postal service. There was
in both directions, and for some time, interruption and
destruction of correspondence. You must have read my
letter written just before Koum Kaleh saying that at last
I had a letter from you.
To-day I have received a long letter from Paris, 29th and
3Oth April. I am not sure of the 29th, for you have not
dated the first pages, but it is the 28th or 29th for certain.
I think when reading it one or two tears fell. Emotion
is forbidden in the trenches, but it is sweet to be loved.
When I arrived this morning at the Colonel's post a
black orderly had just got a bullet in his shoulder. There
are so many corpses about that the smell is insupportable.
You see how sweet a thing at this time is the letter from
a dear little wife. Now in my hole I am dazed by a
battery of " 75*3 " which is firing above me. At each shot
enough sand and earth falls to dry the page.
The noise of the " 75 " has about it something irritating,
unnerving, upsetting. It tears the ear, is strident and
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brutal. No other cannonade can be confounded with
that. When the gun goes off you feel a wild rage, a
formidable destruction, a summons to death which freezes
you with terror.
My beautiful horse, which you admired in the photos,
is dead. I have regretted him very much. I have now a
superb chestnut which is called " Merle." Since then I
have a second horse, that of poor Captain Blanchard.
It is a grey beast, which somewhat recalls my mourned
" Dextrier."
Instead of careering along on horseback, you insinuate
yourself prudently in the defiles of the trenches without
raising your head too much. The bullets which lodge in
the banks make a sound like a chestnut popping in the
cinders, and those which go further imitate the noise of a
bee.
You will receive some more money, darling, and I
hope that you will spend some of it. I myself only
spend perhaps £2 or £3 a month. I wish particularly
that you shall have everything that will please you. Go
to the best tea shops, and don't forget to go to the theatre,
though I expect that the war takes away all desire to
amuse yourself. But I am very anxious that you shall
not get into a groove of misery. This summer you
must go to the mountains — perhaps Scotland would do
you good.
I am very proud of the character which your father
gives me. I also am very fond of your father, and often
reflect, full of admiration, on the life which he has so well
spent. It is an admirable example for all the world, and
especially for me.
There are real beauties in a dug-out. The platform is
made of big branches of pine, to which leaves and cones
are still attached. The fresh atmosphere is perfumed
SEDD-EL-BAHR 109
with resin. Tufts of poppies are so red that their corollas
of blood are full of love and war.
My visitors sit on a seat covered thickly with several
plaids, and under their feet, tired from the paths of
combats, there is a beautiful Turkish rug as thick as a
carpet. Massive copper dishes, stolen from the Turks,
hang in the corners.
This evening there will be an attack, and I accompanied
Colonel Nogues in his inspection of Hill 236, where we
shall operate. On our way we went to see the " Old monas-
tery." It was doubtless a superb building, which topped
the cliff at this point, hanging perpendicularly over the
sea — now only ruins, stones, with just a bit of wall which
enables one to judge the importance of the buildings. We
entered a small room, the only one left standing — very
interesting.
Advancing along the cliff, we found two twin tombs —
English : a commandant (major) and a private soldier.
An English battalion took this corner of ground. They
were 1,200 in number. They held on to the end, but they
were reduced to 400 — a marvellous defence.
The scenery is most beautiful. The Dardanelles, then
Tenedos to the south, then farther off, Samothrace, in a
colouring which only Greek poets could describe.
On our right, on the Asiatic coast, the ancient Troy of
the Iliad, of Helen and of Homer ; Koum Kaleh conquered
by us, and bearing witness to the prowess of our armies.
One can distinguish, with glasses, the houses, one by one,
the castle, the bridge which our " 75'$ " barred, and the
cemetery where several thousand Turks were entrenched.
The country is deserted, abandoned. No living being
dares show his face there since the 25th of April. Without
this radiantly beautiful light it would be frightfully sad.
We cross a plateau hollowed out with trenches where
no UNCENSORED LETTERS
there are no longer any soldiers. The poppies have sprung
up again. It is a fairy scene.
We arrive at the observation post of Hill 236, and find
there two brigade commanders, staff officers, an artillery
commander, besides Colonel Nogues and myself. They are
preparing the business of the evening. In spite of the late
hour we can see and read the plain like a high relief map.
It is disconcertingly clear. Also the enemy can see us, and
bullets whistle round us. We can see our shells fall on the
enemy works and burst, and see what damage they have
done. Here are our trenches, there the Turkish ones, with
their barbed wire spread wide in front of them.
Here is a redoubt which has been revealed to our " 75's,"
and which is strongly attacked. Ten, fifteen shells fall
on it and annihilate it methodically.
But there on our left you can see, along a green meadow,
the last traces of the battle of Krithia. It was a terrible
thing. Fifty of ours, in grey-blue cloaks, are there,
elbow to elbow as if at drill. They are looking towards
the enemy, and I see they have their guns pointed in their
hands.
They are all dead there together, asphyxiated by a shell
or riddled by machine guns. At first glance one would
swear that they are not dead, or that they are just going
to get up. But on looking closer one can see opened
corpses. The breeze is laden with dreadful odours.
My dear little wife, life counts for little here, and one's
turn may come when it is least expected. I should not
like to be disfigured or mutilated. I should prefer to be
killed outright.
If I were wounded I should go either to Bizerta, Tunis,
Algiers or Toulon. It seems that they don't wish to send
a single case of illness to Alexandria.
Why ? It is heartrending, isn't it ? to renounce Alex-
SEDD-EL-BAHR in
andria for ever as patient or as doctor. We left so many
sympathetic friends there.
For my own part, I can't bring my memory back to
Alexandria without asking myself if I am dreaming.
But I prefer to go to another country if I am wounded.
You will look after me, darling. That would be better
than all the others put together. I bless you, and wish I
could only hold your hands in mine. Your TOE.
May 27.
DEAREST MINE,
My hut is all ablaze this morning with enormous sheaves
of poppies. Your photo in an oak frame is in the scarlet
shadow of the flowers.
Perfect health. Good spirits.
May 28.
Shells are falling very near me. One gets quite
accustomed to them. The British general in command,
Sir Ian Hamilton, has invited some of us to Mudros to
spend forty-eight hours there.
It will be very nice. I hope I can manage to get away.
Fancy not having to be on the look-out for shells or bullets
— to sleep without the noise of guns ! I shall try to go.
I am writing to you from my underground hole.
I am keeping the letters and the films so as to send
them by the Lorraine, which is expected. Don't worry.
It will be safer. Theo himself will be able to post them in
France. I can no longer send my kodak films to Alex-
andria. I will send them to you direct.
Your loving HUSBAND.
H2 UNCENSORED LETTERS
May 30.
DEAR ONE,
I am writing this in my " dug-out " of the Fountain
Vermesch Ravine.
We are going to change our camp. We are leaving our
underground holes for tents, 300 metres in the rear. For
six days my regiment was in the first line. Now it is
resting.
Korka and Borella, my servants, have already strapped
down my trunks and emptied my " dug-out." I am
writing on my knees, seated on the bottom step of my home.
Well, now that I have no more belongings in it, it appears
big and comfortable.
I received this morning your letter of the i6th of May
and your postcard of the I4th. You had just received
my letter of the 28th April and those of the 2nd and 3rd
May. Doubtless some letters have gone astray.
You tell me that you have become a perfect pearl —
that you keep an account of all your expenses. Even I
could do that now easily. This month I spent five francs
in chocolate, thirty francs on our mess. That is all. I
draw the equivalent of three rations in money, for we only
take the rations that we need, which makes a saving of
more than 100 francs a month.
May 31.
MY VERY DEAR WlFE,
You wish to come to Sedd-el-Bahr ! With Madame M. !
You have not seen my photos ?
Sedd-el-Bahr or Sedoul Bahr is the landing point where
the English and French were so admirable, and lost so
many men. It is ruined — done for. There are only
soldiers, munitions, horses, material — no women.
A DRESSING STATION, \\ITH KORKA, THK DOCTORS SENEGALESE
SERVANT.
IN THE FRENCH CAMP NEAR SEDD-EL-BAHR. COLONEL NOGUES,
WOUNDED IN THE ARM DURING THE KOUM KALEH EXPEDITION.
LIFE GIVING SLEEP AFTER EXHAUSTING FIGHTING.
A PRINCELY DUG-OUT WHICH THE DOCTOR OCCUPIED FOR
A WEEK.
SEDD-EL-BAHR 113
Sedd-el-Bahr has been, but is no more.
Ask the artillery of the Allied Fleets why ; ask, too,
the landing troops — French, English, New Zealanders,
Australians, Egyptians, Senegalese! . . . The Chateau
d'Europe, with its light, sun-washed walls, has holes in its
foundations large enough to lodge families in ; and shells
still fall thickly there every day, nearly every hour.
The town, not very big, once dainty, situated on apricot
and almond tree-covered terraces, shaded with flourishing
orchards crowned with vines, is now only a ruin, a memory.
In a little by-path I saw a fountain under the fig trees.
The water runs no more, but the clay pipe is intact, as also
the ornamental tap. On the wall behind, Arab characters
are cut into the stone, telling the thirsty passer-by, no
doubt, to say a prayer to Allah for the benefactor who
built it.
Whole houses have fallen down. A shapeless mass of
dust, brick and stones is all that remains of them. Others,
cut open, allow one to guess the character and home life
of the inhabitants. They, like their Mussulman owners,
must suffer to have their privacy thus brutally exposed.
In one dusty corner I see a coloured coverlet on a bed,
and, nailed to the wall, a bird-cage.
The narrow streets of the town are filled with soldiers
of every service, crowded with carts, munition cases,
ambulance carriages, horses, artillery waggons. One must
squeeze up against the wall under the toppling roofs not
to be crushed by them. Heaps of soldiers have occupied
the ruins and are camping there.
In the higher part of the town big trees may be seen,
green spaces, even flowers and the rich front of a monastery
or church. The monastery has been destroyed ; the
outer wall is all that is left standing.
In the middle of the town, dominating the sea, lies a
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cemetery. Turkish cemeteries in the East are full of
poetry and charm. The grave stones rise from the midst
of irises, roses, poppies, mignonette, marguerites. Many
are of marble, inscribed with lines from the Koran. Some
tablets are gently curved off at the top in the shape of a
leaf or a round ball. Others are cylindrical in form.
Their sculptural whiteness is shown off vividly by the green
foliage behind them, and by the triumphant purple of the
irises.
If you continue to climb the cemetery path you come
to the first terrace from which you overlook the town, the
beach, the sea, and even the Asiatic coast with Koum Kaleh
and Yenisher. It is a unique panorama. From the
ground, dug into holes by shells, from the barbed wire
entanglements, from the hiding places where our batteries
have been established, it is possible to estimate in a single
glance the prodigious effort of England and France on the
Gallipoli Peninsula. The glorious history of April 25
shines out clearly.
The semi-circular hills, which rise like a huge amphi-
theatre, dominate it from all sides. The converging fire
of machine-guns, field-guns, and rifles made a landing here
impossible to any other nation but your own indomitable
English.
From the River Clyde (a big cargo boat which has been
intentionally stranded on the Sedd-el-Bahr beach) the
marvellous soldiers of England dashed forward. They
threw themselves into the water ; but even in the sea the
Turks had laid their barbed wire defences. Many tried
to force their way through ; but they were drowned or
cut up.
Their bodies were suspended for a long time on these
wires ; and this inextricable human entanglement, which
appeared from time to time above the water, was a sight
SEDD-EL-BAHR 115
to terrify the bravest. It became necessary to call in the
aid of a gun. A few explosive shells and bodies and wire
were dragged away by the current.
On the first platform ridge — it is called " The Beach," and
the name will stick to it — is an extraordinary mass of
arms, horses, cases, carriages and guns. Into all that,
shells from In Tepe fall regularly, only killing a few horses.
There are also a field hospital there, stores under canvas,
and every sort of quickly improvised establishment.
Two 155-mm. guns are hidden a little higher up, and fire
periodically on Achi Baba and In Tepe.
Now the beach of Sedd-el-Bahr is almost exclusively
reserved to the French. The British have occupied the
beach to the west of Cape Helles. Numerous transports,
battleships — a powerful and varied fleet — are anchored in
the blue sea.
Sedd-el-Bahr no longer exists, but the bravery of the
British, the bravery of the French have made it for ever
immortal. Your devoted HUSBAND.
CHAPTER VIII
SIEGE WARFARE
June I.
MY DEAR ONE,
I am officially proposed with the best and bravest of my
regiment — several on the list have died of their wounds,
or have given their lives in new deeds — for higher rank.
It is a great honour. If I am promoted, as it is said
I may be, I should have to leave my regiment, which I
should regret keenly. I should have liked to follow it
through all the stages of this campaign.
I have read The Times. You can get the clearest idea
of what we are doing, and certainly you have it. But
what makes you think that a woman could land at Sedd-
el-Bahr ? With little Madame M. ! Dear one, dear one !
You can imagine how well you would both be received, for
there are 100,000 men here, and a whole English division
is expected from Lemnos, and you would be the only
women within miles !
The audacity of German submarines is a new source of
trouble to us. The sea is almost bare of boats. The
General-in-Chief, who was on the Arcadian, has installed
himself on land at Imbros. Many yards of nets, also sub-
marines and monitors with flat bottoms, have been ordered
in England.
I am sending by registered post to-day or to-morrow
five spools of films. All goes well. Health ideal ; perfect
weather; good spirits. Some " 155 " guns are firing hard
SIEGE WARFARE 117
at us. Hell is nothing to it. Yet last night, under
the usual fire, I slept from 9 to 5.30 in the morning
right off !
Good-night, my well-beloved darling.
Your JOE.
'June 3.
DEAREST,
A rather quiet day ; but probably it will not last long.
I have seen some very interesting official reports, all of
them glorifying the 6th Colonial.
June 4.
Received your letter of the 2 1st ulto. in the midst of a
raging battle. All goes well. You shall have a letter
every day if possible.
I was presented to General Gouraud on the 3ist, when
he came to review my regiment. The review was held
in honour of Sergeant Resplendi, whom he decorated with
the Military Medal.
I think I must have mentioned his brave deed at the
time, but as I have some leisure now — in spite of the
furious fighting and the noise which dulls one's senses —
I will tell you of the ceremony of the 3 1st and why it
was held.
Our advance of May 28 — 29 was stopped by a fortification
which the Turks had solidly established on a line with
their foremost trenches. It commanded the great ravine
of Kereves Dere; and the machine-guns, with which it
was well provided, had sown death among our ranks.
After careful study of this obstacle, Colonel Nogues,
with his usual unerring military instinct, discovered that
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the Turks had withdrawn some of its defenders, probably
owing to the heaps of dead in proximity which made the
place unbearable. The whole of a neighbouring trench
was full of corpses.
He decided that the time had come to strike a blow
against it. A volunteer company was formed among the
6th Colonial Regiment. It was composed of an equal
number of French and Senegalese, all ready for bayonet
or any close quarter fighting. Sub-Lieutenant Marost
was in command. To this little company was entrusted
the capture of the fortified position.
They assembled in a first line trench, and immediately
began to slide, one by one, over the parapet and creep up
the hill. To us looking on, this plunge into the unknown
was very impressive. It was like diving into the sea.
We were speechless with admiration.
" How many would come back ? "
They climbed for two hours, each tightly clenching his
weapon. They had to be careful to make no noise, even
to avoid breathing heavily. The night was very clear.
There was a full moon. The slope was only dotted with
occasional bushes. Once they saw a patrol coming towards
them, but as they did not move it passed on.
An incessant rifle fire from the first lines was passing
over their heads, and sometimes shells fell near them.
At last, sustained by the idea of their important enterprise,
they neared their goal.
They closed in, elbow to elbow, whites and blacks, and
only waited for a sign from their officer. Then these
fellows, these fine fellows, tired with crawling, were glad
to stand upright and rush the position.
The Turks, completely surprised, flew. They all dashed
for the communication trench, leaving behind them their
arms, knapsacks, ammunition, rugs, and provisions.
SIEGE WARFARE 119
Our men made the agreed signal. They lighted a
lantern turned towards our lines. Then without loss of
time they put the position in a state of defence. The
communication trench was blocked, they dug, they filled
sacks with earth, a guard was placed with rifles to answer
the musketry fire of the enemy.
At this most critical moment six shells, one after another,
burst on the walls of the position. Huge stones flew into
atoms amidst bloody flashes. Men fell. A few scratches
and a terrible shaking. They looked at each other in
consternation. This deadly true aim, these terrific
explosions, this noise, is it not our " 75 " guns ?
The officer, who had had no fear of the Turks, but who
wished to prevent a mistake of our artillerymen, rushed
back to our trenches. The others, now reassured, did not
move. The error, one of those terrible errors which always
occur at just the wrong moment, had only lasted a minute,
and was put right by telephone. It had nevertheless
called forth Turkish fire — field artillery followed by heavy
guns.
The position was the aim and object for continuous
rifle fire and shells till the morning. Counter-attacks
were immediately stopped by our artillery, who made a
veritable barrier of shell fire round their group.
Sergeant Resplendi, who had taken command of the
position, while Lieutenant Le Gouez and Sub-Lieutenant
Marost were organising the occupation of neighbouring
trenches, was wounded by a bullet, which passed right
through him. He refused to go to the ambulance to be
dressed.
A soldier put iodine into the wound and applied the
" first aid bandage." Resplendi, however, would not
leave his post. He remained there thirty-six hours before
he was relieved.
120 UNCENSORED LETTERS
The Turkish position, which is now definitely ours, has
been named " Le Gouez Fort," for Le Gouez was mortally
wounded by a bullet in the head a few yards from
the spot.
Two days later General Gouraud reviewed our regiment
to honour the bravery of Sergeant Resplendi, mentioned
in these terms : " Wounded, Sergeant Resplendi remained
at his post thirty-six hours, refusing to be relieved or have
his wound dressed."
At 7 a.m., on the lower slopes which border Morto Bay
to the north, our regiment was assembled by battalions
facing the sea, bugles sounding and the flag floating in the
wind. The General came up on horseback, followed by
General Masnou, commanding the ist Division, and several
staff officers.
He was in khaki, but the gold laurels of his kepi shone
in the sun. After having saluted the flag and the Colonel,
General Gouraud dismounted. He decorated Sergeant
Resplendi with the Military Medal in the traditional
manner, then in powerful tones addressed a few words
to the Marsouins (French Colonials) and Senegalese.
He praised the act of Sergeant Resplendi and ended :
" Very good. The 6th Colonial can be counted on. You
have an example in your Colonel. Though wounded,
he, too, has remained at his post."
During the march past of the regiment three or four
" marmites," coming from In Tepe, burst near our lines
with an infernal noise. Nobody took the slightest notice.
The ranks remained as steady as at a July I4th
review.
I can tell you my old heart beat with pride for my
brave comrades, as I am sure yours will do on reading
this disjointed and rambling letter. Love always, from
Your HUSBAND.
SIEGE WARFARE 121
June 5.
DEAR HEART,
A very busy day — a few wounded, but I was principally
occupied with the hygiene of the district. I discovered
that the water of a fountain, perfect till now, was running
(for a minute only) over Turkish corpses.
Yesterday the battle ended at 6 p.m. We were only
able to raise our tents at 9, after partaking of corned
beef, a meal which, as you know, I by no means
despise.
The temperature is becoming very high. I have khaki.
Don't send anything. I have everything I need.
June 6.
Your letter of the 26th to hand. Yes, you must play
tennis and also go to the theatre. I asked you to in a
former letter.
I now have time to send you a little description — an
echo from the not very distant field of battle — 1,500 metres
perhaps.
Here are my notes, taken minute by minute, of the
battle of June 4 : — I was at our command post ; our
regiment was in reserve.
10.45 a-m- — Colonel Nogues, the staff officers and I
go to the command post of the 6th Colonial Regiment.
It is situated on a point 20 yards high on the north of
Morto Bay, part of which it overlooks. A cruiser with two
funnels comes into the straits from the south. Perhaps
it is the Latouchf TrtvilU.
II a.m. — Three other battleships and torpedo-boats
arrive. There are four aeroplanes flying at the same time.
The shelling begins. It increases rapidly. Black foun-
tains of smoke rise from behind the last ridge in front oi
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us. The " 75," the " 65 " and the " 155," long and short,
are all firing.
Everything trembles. White smoke rises up close to
us from the ground to the right. It is one of our shells.
The weather is cloudy. Our men follow with amused eyes
our shells as they leave the guns. A movement of troops.
If we mount a little higher we can see trench roads and the
peak of AchiBaba. Intense fusillade. Deafeningcannonade.
11.15. — We have to leave our observation post, for bullets
and shrapnel are coming too thickly round us.
11.30. — The bombardment is still fiercer from behind.
Artillery waggons come galloping up on a road swept
by musketry fire.
11.50. — The firing lessens, a prearranged pause; then
it is resumed. The whole ridge in front of us is black with
a curtain of smoke. One sees nothing, but I take a photo-
graph all the same.
The guns seem to make the whole earth tremble. The
Turks answer back with some "310" " marmites."
12. — Firing ceases. ... It is the attack. . . .
More shells from the enemy. All the ships in the straits
are engaged. A destroyer leaves the straits, but returns
almost immediately.
12.15. — Turkish "marmites" fall in the sea behind us.
Splendid fountains of water. The " 75 " guns behind us
begin firing again. Of all the guns these hurt our ears the
most.
12.30. — I look over the parapet of the trench. Smoky
blackness.
The Colonel wishes to lie down. Soldiers immediately
bestir themselves and make him a bed of sweet-smelling
thyme, over which they spread the canvas of their tents.
The firing does not cease for a minute. Turkish shells
are falling nearer us.
SIEGE WARFARE 123
I am very thirsty. The sun is shining too brilliantly
now. Noise, dust, smoke, heat. It is tiring.
12.50. — I lie down beside the Colonel, but because of
the din, chiefly because of the flies (oh, these Turkish flies !),
it is impossible to sleep. All the better ! At this very
minute a letter from you.
A man who seems to have come from the first line says
that our shells are falling well into the Turkish trenches
and that they are flying.
i p.m. — A " 310" shell falls 28 metres in front of us.
An officer comes to confer with the Colonel, whom we are
obliged to awaken.
1.15. — The 1st Division cannot advance because Kereves
Dere is more strongly fortified than the authorities believed.
Our Colonel had foreseen this. The 2nd Division advances
in spite of a strong resistance. The British Marines have
had to be reinforced by our Zouaves. The English have
taken two trenches before Krithia. (There are still two
more.)
1.45. — A soldier on horseback says that the two Turkish
trenches just in front of us have been captured, and that we
have taken 220 prisoners. We read our letters and papers
which have just arrived. The firing continues always.
2.15. — A man of our escort is wounded by a bullet in the
left elbow.
Colonel Grillot telephones to our Colonel that the only
information he can give him is that one of his companies
has taken an enemy's trench. An officer of our extreme
right asks him by telephone to lengthen his range by 100
metres.
2.30. — The firing is less intense. The dressing station
of the 1 75th Regiment has received 20 wounded. Colonel
Vimard lets us know that the attack of the first lines will
be resumed at 4 p.m. We are to be ready.
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3. — Colonel Grillot sends a little note to our Colonel.
One of his companies has taken and occupied a trench,
but it will cost too many lives to allow the other com-
panies to advance.
3.10. — A policeman comes to look for the 220 Turkish
prisoners. It is an incident which furnishes much-needed
comic relief.
3.20. — Serves, Colonel Nogues' cyclist, says that the
" yy's " have been trained on the reserves of our regiment
and the regimental train. A horse has had the two fore-
legs shattered by a shell, which after all did not burst.
4 in the evening. — Intense cannonade. Renewal of attack.
4.25. — Sustained fusillade.
4.30. — The 1st Battalion of the 6th Colonial is sent
further forward. I tell off a doctor to follow the movement.
4.50. — A " 210 " shell falls on the incline of the hill on
our left. It does not burst. It rolls, rolls. . . . Everyone
follows its course. Will it fall into the bottom of the
ravine among a lot of cooks settled there ? It stops in a
thin undergrowth.
4.55. — A " 77 " shell falls near us.
5. — A battalion of the 4th Zouaves has reached the
trenches E and F. The 2nd Division cannot advance
further.
5.35. — A French torpedo-destroyer with four funnels
shows herself in Morto Bay. The tricolour can be plainly
distinguished.
5.42. — We are informed that the attack has not been
very successful, and that the losses are heavy.
5.45. — Another French torpedo-destroyer appears in the
bay.
6.10. — The operations have cost us 2,000 men and 20
officers. The enemy had quantities of machine-guns. We
have taken some of their first line trenches.
SIEGE WARFARE 125
640. — Lieutenant Pasquet, of the engineers, returns
from the first line trenches. He says that our gains
have been dearly bought.
6.45. — General Gouraud arrives on horseback followed
by his staff. He joins his generals of the ist and 2nd
Divisions.
9. — We set up our tent in the ravine from which we came
this morning.
Good-night, dear one. J.
June 7.
DEAREST,
More fighting in the first lines. My dressing station is
at the ruined house in the ravine of the Vermesch Foun-
tain, and my underground hut is the same as it has been
for a week — quite comfortable, I assure you.
I received your letter of 26th May. Yes, my watch is
and has been absolutely right ever since Toulon ! The
Thermos bottle and everything else you gave me are very
useful.
June 8.
To-day I sent you two long letters. My photos are
splendid. In future I hope to send many others. I see
from reading Thf Times that you are much better informed
than I about general events. I see only a very small
corner. I hope soon to get a wider view, but you have
no idea how rare interesting and exact news is.
Do enjoy your tennis. Good-night. It is time to
sleep.
June 9.
All day a north wind, which is extremely annoying,
because it raises ceaseless clouds of dust. And there
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are as many flies as grains of dust ! Apart from this, a
calm day, which I have chiefly passed in my subterranean
shelter. Everything is drying up ; the country has changed
its appearance.
God bless and keep you, dearest, for the return of
Your own HUSBAND.
June 10.
MY WIFE,
I shall send you by this post a small parcel (registered)
with two spools of kodak films and a registered letter
containing photos which had an adventure. There go
with this letter 20 to 30 films with particulars. You will
receive others (30 to 40) in three or four days. It is
the lot taken between the 25th April and the 8th May.
Nothing new. Mails are becoming scarce.
Because of the heat everything is scarred, naked. Not
a flower nor fruit tree.
We are passing through a period of waiting and difficulty,
for the Allied ships have all left our shores. As I told
you a few days ago, the submarine has come. You know
•what it has done !
The Turks have immediately become more audacious.
They did nothing less than establish trench mortars,
field and heavy batteries, at Koum Kaleh.
All the same, that was too much. Boats quickly came
out and shelled them. Did they succeed ?
In any case, the Sedd-el-Bahr beach is more bombarded
than ever from In Tepe and the Asiatic coast. The
damage is insignificant.
The last few days we have started using a " crapouillard "
in our trenches. It is a sort of small and roughly-made
mine-thrower. The mine or shell has wings, and can be
SIEGE WARFARE 127
loaded with from 10 to 30 kilos of melinite. It produces
extraordinary results.
The day before yesterday the " crapouillard " of the
4th Regiment rewarded them with a whole Turk, and us
with an arm ! When I take a photograph of it I will
describe it more fully. There is joy in the trenches when
the soldiers have to use it.
June II.
From my underground shelter, before being rocked to
sleep by the everlasting music of rifles and guns, I salute
you. To-morrow we change our bivouac again. It is
becoming monotonous.
Send me the Iliad of Homer in French, a small edition.
It will be curious to read the Iliad with the country of the
poem before me. Many thanks for the illustrated papers.
We cannot buy a single paper or anything at all here.
P.S. — Send me a tooth-brush and powder with the
Iliad.
June 12.
I have seen some Greek excavations. In digging
trenches soldiers have found stone sarcophagi which we
think are more than 2,000 years old. The walls are
thick and the coffins very big. They are filled with fine
earth which has slowly slid through the cracks of
the lid.
Among this soft earth are bones, quite recognisable,
vases, bowls, lamps, sometimes statues. There are also
potteries with faces and figures of women.
For more than two weeks I have not seen a sign of any
Briton, and we know very little of what they are doing.
I always feel as if I should send you news of your brave
128 UNCENSORED LETTERS
countrymen. I never knew till now why you are such a
capable, common-sense, reliable little woman. It is in
the breed. Bless them and you is the prayer of
Your JOE.
June 13.
MY OWN,
We have come back to our old camping ground of a
week ago — the semi-circular grotto where fig trees shelter
our tents. The change was made during the night. I
myself left my wild beast's lair at 4 o'clock this morning.
There were no " marmites " to accompany us, only lots
of bullets which wounded nobody.
The ordinary routine of life seems as if it would continue
for a long time unchangeable. We feel as if we had been
born " Poilus."
Trench warfare continues without great interest. There
are no more actions, no more advances. The sea is still
bare of boats. We were so used to seeing them around
us that we feel deserted.
The Turks are getting more and more bold. The
batteries that they have brought down to the Asiatic
coast seem well provisioned. The beach of Sedd-el-Bahr
is still bombarded ; and sometimes there are victims.
It appears that our letter-bags have been reduced to
atoms. Or is it the postal agents who have spread this
rumour ? Oh, this postal service of our armies !
We ourselves have had victims from a " marmite " this
afternoon. One of these huge shells coming from Achi
Baba burst in the very middle of my cliff ambulance.
Fortunately there was nobody there just then.
Another " marmite " dropped in the quarters of the
Colonel's secretaries. One adjutant and one man were
KKENCH SOLDIERS IN THEIR COLONIAL HELMETS CARRYING
SHELLS.
A MUCH-NEKDED SHAVE DURING THE FIRST DAY'S REST ON
THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.
FRENCH MOBILE KITCHENS ("CUISINES ROULANTES").
:OOKS AT WORK ABOVE MORTO BAY.
SIEGE WARFARE 129
killed and five soldiers were seriously wounded. A tele-
phonist who was on the very spot where my tent once
stood was killed at the same time.
As a diversion from " marmites " we continue our
excavations. We are on a Greek necropolis of the highest
antiquity — some five or six centuries before our era.
In digging trenches we come on enormous stones which
resound. They are the lids of tombs. With great care
(but not always) we remove the covering stone. Under-
neath is the interior of a stone coffin which we empty
little by little. Grain by grain for centuries the soil has
gently penetrated. Inside there is a skeleton more or less
preserved.
Besides this in each sarcophagus there are potteries
more or less rich, but always of exquisite form. I have
beneath my eyes a delicate cup which the slightest shock
would break. It symbolises that peculiar and character-
istic beauty of form which Greece revealed to us. Its
long handles, almost ethereal in their delicacy, give to
this little thing the palpitations of wings.
Only passionate admirers of the human body were
capable of creating such marvellous lines in clay. They
are arms which open towards heaven — these handles of
my Greek cup. I very much enjoy drawing these treasures.
Last night the guns were silent. A respite for all.
It is so rare.
Good-night, Beloved. J.
June 14.
DEAR LITTLE ONE,
We have received some journals — the Sphere, a Times,
some Temps. At last they know what we are doing, and
what we are worth in France. It is a pity the papers may
130 UNCENSORED LETTERS
not indicate any regiment, any hero. I send you by the
same mail as this one solitary film. You will tell me if
it arrived all right, and if this method may safely be
adopted. I only risk one spool at a time. I am going
to try to send off letters by the English boats and the
English post.
Have you thought that if I got my fifth stripe I should
doubtless soon return ?
June 15.
I have just been appointed interim divisional doctor.
If my five stripes come during this time I shall be a perma-
nent one. I have pitched my tent in the sand at General
Masnou's quarters. I become the head doctor for four
regiments and a great hospital. I regret my 6th Regiment
very much.
June 1 6.
I have been at the post of the General of Division since
yesterday evening. This will go from Mudros, where a
comrade is undertaking to post these cards.
Much, much love from TOE
HEADQUARTERS OF THE IST DIVISION, June 16.
DEAREST,
I received this morning your letter of the loth of June,
and you will see that it came in the nick of time. At first
I thought I wouldn't tell you, but I have never been able
to keep anything from you.
I spent last night at the quarters of General Masnou in
an enormous hole in the sand, where my tent sank under
the force of the wind. As soon as it was light, a series of
SIEGE WARFARE 131
shells and of " mannites," mostly " 77*8," rapid and
snarling. Everybody nevertheless goes about his work
in the usual way.
I make my daily round, see my patients and later pro-
ceed to the hut of the secretaries of the division. I was
there about 8.30. Some nine or ten soldiers, Zouaves,
and police, are working in a big sand excavation about
three yards wide by six or eight yards long. The whole
is covered by logs and canvas, which make a roof about
the height of a man, except in the centre, where it is raised
higher to a point.
Just at the moment when I was standing holding out
a paper to my corporal secretary Saboul, a crash was
heard. It was very sudden, and a great number of
incidents followed each other in a few seconds. I will
sum them up in one sentence.
A " 77 " shell had just burst in the middle of us, killing
two men and wounding four. What did I feel ? I did
not see the flash nor the scene as a whole. I certainly
heard a very loud noise, but not louder than usual when
a shell bursts in one's neighbourhood.
I made a strong call on my will to remain passive, not
to flinch and to continue as if nothing had happened. But
opposite me, separated only by a table, I saw a man stag-
gering and another to my right whose face was bleeding
profusely. He rushed out, and I followed him. I saw
in going out two inert bodies.
I concentrated my mind on stopping the haemorrhage
of the man I had followed. I succeeded, but not without
difficulty. A doctor ran to help me and I called for
stretcher-bearers and carriages.
After having stopped the bleeding of this man, I turned
to another wounded soldier. Pieces of shrapnel had
passed through the chest, the shoulder and the left arm.
132 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I raised, revived and bandaged him. He was very
courageous, and did not complain, but asked after his
comrades.
The third had been caught in the hip by a splinter which
had penetrated the abdomen, and another piece had grazed
his head. He talked, but a fatal pallor came slowly over
him.
The fourth was killed instantly. There were still two
more. I will not go into details — four are dead.
I did not really feel any shock until I reconstructed the
scene in my mind after the departure of the victims. The
shell burst just at the height of the hut, on the left towards
the sea. It spat out all its bullets, which were scattered
all around in a wave of four or five yards.
The case of the shell passed over my head through the
opening of my tent, tearing the canvas on one side and
burying itself deeply in the earth behind. I might have
been decapitated.
The canvas all around my head was perforated with
pieces of shrapnel, any one of which was sufficient to kill me.
A wooden post a short distance in front of me stopped a
certain number of bullets. The tent shows a hundred holes.
Really, when a few minutes later I realised what had
happened and what might have happened, it gave me
rather a shock. However, I have seen and lived through
much since the 25th of April.
But it was decreed that this was not enough. My first
day as divisional doctor was not yet at an end. The
cannonade began early in the afternoon, and then again at
7, just as we were sitting down to dinner. It was quite
evident that the shells were directed on the headquarters
of the General.
The avalanche fell first in the form of a huge " marmite,"
60 yards in front of our shell-proof dining-room. My
SIEGE WARFARE 133
horses were smothered with splinters and dust. Signs
were made to us that no one was hurt.
After that four or five " 75 " shells — probably those
that Creusot sold to Turkey some years ago — fell one after
the other. One easily recognises them, for they burst
marvellously. Nobody in our dining-room flinched, but
we all felt sure that the shells had fallen this time in the
midst of our men.
Sure enough there are calls for " the doctor." I looked
up towards Achi Baba, whence the shells were being hurled,
and then ran with all my might to the spot from which
the calls had come. I found a man lying at full length
on the ground. I raised him. The shell had broken his
skull.
A second was lying in a pool of blood. He had been
hit in the head near the ear. The wound was bleeding
very much. He was very agitated. He bit a policeman
who was helping me bandage him. I had a carriage
harnessed up ; and a comrade accompanied him to the
hospital under the firing, which continued its deadly work.
After all this I did not care to sleep in my tent, and,
on the advice of the General, I carried my belongings into
the armoured dining-room.
They are working at the construction of a well-protected
shelter for each one of us. They have wooden pillars, and
will be covered on three sides by sand at least a yard thick.
On the Asiatic side, from which the biggest shells come,
the layer of sand will be five yards thick. All the same I
think we shall be obliged to change our camp.
From here I have to go every day to Sedd-el-Bahr. I
discover the most extraordinary things. The main street
of Sedd-el-Bahr (town) overlooks the sea. It is now
nothing but a shapeless mass of white ruins which extends
over hundreds of metres, and from which rise here and
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there a piece of wall, a chimney, the front of a
house !
Amongst this chaos are the green trees of an Eastern
summer, the pomegranates with their scarlet flowers.
Through breaks in the sad ruins the sea in its calm
beauty extends in motionless lines. The sea is peacock blue.
By this road the big Chateau d'Europe is reached. It
is ruined, broken, pierced, beautiful all the same ; and looks
still mighty on some sides, having kept its sovereign
majesty.
You will understand better from the photographs.
It is unnecessary to add that I have photographed the
tragic hut of the secretaries, and that I have kept the
shell. Your still whole HUSBAND.
June 17.
MY DEAR ONE,
By this mail I am sending two films ; one is not per-
haps very good. Both are views in the streets of Sedd-el-
Bahr. There is an extremely interesting mine for photos
there. My new duties are agreeable, but not without
danger. The General is most amiable.
June 1 8.
During last night, spent in the blockhouse, while a pretty
severe fire of shells of all sorts was whistling above us and
bursting in the plain below, a British battleship thundered
tremendously and dominated everything with its big voice.
We were no longer accustomed to it.
I have not yet seen General Gouraud. It is astonishingly
calm this morning.
SIEGE WARFARE 135
June 19.
I slept again last night in the blockhouse. My box or
cage in the sand is not very habitable. I am writing this
in the middle of the staff secretaries. I prefer the flies,
the lack of privacy, and the foolish gossip to the torrid
heat of my cage. . . .
Yesterday I went to lunch with the doctors of the
bacteriological service, who are established in the Chateau
d'Europe. Charming colleagues and very interesting,
with whom it was a pleasure to talk.
On my return I had difficulty in avoiding shells. The
Turks show great activity. Their guns never cease to
annoy us, and they aim far more correctly than formerly.
General Masnou, my chief, has a son who is in the
Flying Corps. He comes to lunch with us sometimes.
The day before yesterday this young lieutenant had
orders from his father to make a reconnaissance over a
particular spot of the Kereves Dere. About 2 o'clock in
the afternoon I heard the sound of an approaching aero-
plane. The General had come out of his shelter, and was
watching his son mounting into the air. I joined him.
We agreed that everything seemed favourable for a
successful reconnaissance. Suddenly shrapnel began to
burst round the aeroplane in white puffs. The fire was
better adjusted than usual. The puffs followed his course
regularly, and seemed about to touch the wings which
glinted in the sunlight.
The General was watching anxiously. Suddenly he
said, " He is hit." I answered, " No, no," but for a moment
I believed it too. Next morning young Masnou brought
his father the information asked for.
I was just going to seal up this letter when I learnt
the following : At 9.30 this morning an artillery officer
saw the periscope of a submarine, then, some time later,
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the whole submarine emerging. He asks by telephone if he
may fire. They take more than an hour to answer him.
The submarine has had time for repairs, and to summon
a tug which went out from the straits to look for it. This
went on under our nose near Eski Hissarlik Cape. It
was surely the German submarine which everyone here
is afraid of. It sank the Majestic and Triumph, and is
the cause of the fleet abandoning us. Oh these tragic
delays, always at vital moments !
Your Loving HUSBAND.
June 20.
DEAR ONE,
Yesterday I sent you a letter and two spools (registered).
As the Alexandria post seems entirely suspended, you
must send me some spools from London.
Am I going to stay here ? They say that a director is
coming out from France. Then my interim work will be
finished.
No one can say what I shall be asked to do. I may be
left here for some time longer or they may want me at
home somewhere or other. I trust that it may be possible
for you, dear heart, to join me. We have been separated
far too long already.
At this moment a rain of shells.
Don't mind spending your money. I am very glad you
have bought a dress " dernier cri." Nothing can. please
me better than to know you are enjoying life.
Bon soir, tres amiee, cherie. Yours TOE.
June 21, ii a.m.
Since daylight an attack is in progress in which the
6th Regiment is playing the principal role. It is only
II a.m., and already the losses are important.
A KKVIEW BV CENKRAL GOURAUD OF THE FRKNCH TROOPS IN
GALLIPOU.
MIMTION • AsKS PROTECTED BY A HICH \\AI.I. AT SEDD-EI.-HAtlR.
THE IKXTOR HOLDS HIS TWO HORSES.
SIEGE WARFARE 137
The brigade commander, Colonel Giraudon, is seriously
wounded. Half an hour ago Colonel Nogues, of the
6th Colonial, passed by on a stretcher. I was told and
ran out to see him. Four men carried a little motionless
figure dressed in khaki. A white handkerchief covered
his face. I raised it. His head was bound up in a red-
stained bandage. His eyes, formerly so bright, were
dim ; he was fearfully pale.
" Would you like a carriage ? " " Whichever shakes
least. I think I prefer the stretcher."
I examined the strength of the stretcher-bearers. I
added four more, so that they could change about and go
more quickly. I sent orders to a doctor from a neighbour-
ing post to accompany him.
For a long time I watched this little procession crossing
the plain of Morto Bay. The road was crowded with
carriages, horses, and artillery waggons. Bullets were
raining, and shells from Achi Baba and In Tepe were
falling here and there along the road.
Anxiously I followed the movement of the stretcher
party with my field glasses. On a ridge it seemed suddenly
to emerge from a fountain of black smoke. . . . An hour
later I was thankful to hear that the Colonel was safely
on board the hospital boat Dugnoy Troun.
The whole width of his chest was penetrated from left
to right and from side to side. The wound in the head
is less serious.
3 p.m.
It is 3 o'clock, and since 4.30 this morning the guns
have fired uninterruptedly, and with extreme rapidity.
One battery of " 75 " guns, whose noise is more disagree-
able than any other, is quite close to us.
How is it we don't go mad ? And now it is nearly
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twenty-four hours since firing has been going on without
intermission, and nearly two months since our brains and
ears have been deadened and deafened. . . .
At any rate, I hear we have conquered three trenches —
perhaps four. We have taken some prisoners. At last,
perhaps ! . . .
The doctor of a division generally accompanies the
general of a division during a battle, but in such battles
as these he did not wish me to follow him. He establishes
himself in some armoured hole, and is doubtless unable
to move from there.
I was more useful here, being more mobile. In this
trench warfare a general is rather like a sailor shut up in
the steel walls of his ship, and only communicating with
the outside world by telephone.
In spite of the fierce fighting I have not had much to
do to-day, for we are naturally beginning to know the
ground perfectly, and the evacuation of the wounded follows
rules and itineraries which are now well known.
My servant Korka is well. He is so amusing that I
put up with his laziness, which is really phenomenal.
He is very clean, so I stick to him.
I have replaced my No. I horse by another, a magnificent
animal. I hope to take this one to Constantinople. I
have a French groom, with whom I am most satisfied.
Many, many kisses. T
June 22.
DEAREST,
I received your P.C. Do take care with your motor car
experiences ! Motoring is very nice, but do be careful
of accidents !
I am extremely proud that my letters are keeping up
SIEGE WARFARE 139
your spirits. You're so plucky. I am, however, in an
atmosphere very demoralising for ordinary characters.
One has to keep oneself continually in the highest mental
condition. An instant's vertigo, and one would be lost.
Think what would become of me if I heard that you were
ill, or hurt in a motor accident !
June 23.
We have won an appreciable bit of ground. New enemy
trenches are ours. There have been advances all along the
line. The guns have performed a very successful task. The
prisoners say their trenches are a pulp of corpses. But,
also, in our own lines and between the first lines there are
heaps of corpses.
In Dressing Station No. I (mine), a shell fell in the midst
of 300 wounded. By their prompt action the doctors
saved the situation. It was thrown out before it exploded.
June 24.
I have striven hard to-day to introduce a little hygiene
into the bivouacs and cantonments. One cannot imagine
what unhygienic monstrosities one meets in an army in
the field. We have created a hygienic section and put in
charge a doctor whom I have nominated.
We have had a very calm day, hardly any " marmites."
June 26.
We think something is up, though we do not know what.
Not a single shell from the Asiatic side for two or three
days. Yesterday evening Maidos or Chanak were burning.
I am taking advantage of these quiet days to continue
140 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the campaign against dirt, parasites, flies, and mosquitoes.
I visit all the fountains, springs, and wells.
The hygiene leaves much to be desired. There are
thousands of corpses to be buried.
I am delighted with my new horse. It is spirited,
strong, elegant, and docile. It is an animal to which I
shall become attached.
My wooden hut has been remade during the day. This
time it will be very solid. It is fairly comfortable. It
only needs the presence of my dear wife to make it perfect.
J-
DEAR LITTLE WIFE, June 28.
Nothing new except that the cannonade from the Asiatic
coast began again yesterday after four days' peace.
I have spent the day at the bivouacs looking after
hygiene, questioning the men. What a curious being is
the soldier in war-time ! I know him well now. He
touches and amuses me. He is so extraordinary, and so
deeply human and friendly.
We have just heard that this morning the English
delivered an attack and have obtained a real success.
They have gained 1,500 metres between the sea and
Krithia. 1,500 metres must represent many trenches !
Further, they have taken three guns, several machine-
guns, and a great number of prisoners. We are delighted.
. . . This did not prevent us being sprinkled with big
" marmites." One burst near my dug-out.
I was making my round of inspection this morning on
horseback, and found myself at 9 a.m. at the Vermesch
Fountain, which I have had put in order and which now
provides the men with very good drinking water.
I have often spoken to you of this corner, formerly quiet
SIEGE WARFARE 141
and picturesque, but which is now like a public market-
place. The trees have disappeared. There is no longer
a blade of grass or a flower.
I was trotting up the first slopes of the ravine when a
white fountain of smoke rose from a spot not far from the
Vermesch Fountain. I pressed on my horse to try to
photograph it, but in my haste I did not see a 155-mm.
gun which was marvellously hidden, and which was fired
a metre from me. I was startled, and my horse still more
so ! The photograph was not taken. . . .
At the fountain I jumped off my horse and questioned
the sentinel.
" There are a great many flies about." " Oh, Monsieur
le Major, it is the blood of my comrade who has just been
wounded here which attracts them ! "
It is true that the other sentinel had been hit by a bullet.
The stains of blood had not yet been cleared away.
" Go and fetch the head doctor of the I75th Regiment,
my man."
" He is in the trenches."
" Then go and fetch Dr. Armanet."
He is one of my colleagues who is living in a very com-
fortable shelter a few yards from the Vermesch Fountain.
I myself lived in this shelter from May 24 to 30 and from
June 6 to 13. The man goes to fetch him and returns
immediately.
" Dr. Armanet has been dead since 6 o'clock this
morning."
I go to see. The dug-out no longer exists ; it is reduced
to atoms. Dr. Armanet has been killed in his bed.
Another doctor, who was lying near Dr. Armanet, the
Aide-major Borbonne, has been wounded.
The latter remained pinioned a long time and unable
to disengage himself. He was himself bleeding, and was
142 UNCENSORED LETTERS
covered with the blood of the dead man, against whom
he was pressed. An orderly was also seriously wounded.
This spot was full of memories for me. I had written
to you so often from here, and offered armfuls of red
poppies to your image. The sanctuary had been respected.
It needed the fearful cannonade of my return home and
the news of the British victory to dissipate my sorrow.
I have now seen in minute detail the excavations of
Troy which are to be found in the Plain of Troy on the
Asiatic side to the south of Koum Kaleh. It is intensely
interesting.
The excavations of which I have spoken to you, and
which contain such beautiful pottery, come from a Greek
colony situated on the site of Eleonte. It was there that
Miltiades prepared his expedition to Lemnos and that
Alexander the Great embarked for the Plain of Troy.
While I am writing this most fierce fighting has begun
again. It is a fresh attack of the British. May the Turks
be crushed !
That is the constant prayer of Your TOE.
June 30.
DEAREST WIFE,
I am just reading your letter of the 1 6th June,
from Uppingham. Don't stamp your letters. It is not
necessary. I am very glad to hear you received all my
letters.
Thanks very much for sending the Sphere and War
News. In the last number of the Sphere there is a
marvellous picture of Sedd-el-Bahr. It is so clear and
true. In the Mirror of the I3th June is a photograph of
General Masnou, my general, and one of Sedd-el-Bahr,
which shows well what a necropolis this town is.
SIEGE WARFARE 143
You talk of coming to Sedd-el-Bahr, but it would be
as difficult as to stay at Buckingham Palace ! Don't
talk of it again.
If I escape from all the perils which surround us here you
can be sure that there will be something new for me soon.
I am divisional doctor in the meantime. Already things
are better. I am recommended for promotion. If I pass
I shall go to Moudros, Alexandria, or France.
Send me a toothbrush, some English soap and tooth
powder. It is impossible to buy a toothbrush here.
Send me also some spools for a vest pocket kodak. I
have no more left.
This morning we were again violently bombarded,
but this afternoon a battleship was firing on the Asiatic
coast. At last a ship has dared to show itself !
Yesterday evening towards 9 o'clock the sky was as
black as ink. A stormy wind arose. On the western
side of Gallipoli, towards Gaba Tepe, or Saros, lightning
flashed out brilliantly and silently. At times, on the
other side towards Maidos, the sky was red as if with fire.
The British Fleet was at work, we guessed. It was a
long distance away, as we could not hear the firing. What
was it doing ? In the end the fighting became general.
The French attacked in their turn and gained some
trenches.
P.S. — I sent you yesterday a little registered parcel
containing a Turkish sash clasp, taken from a corpse
right in front of the first line.
In this letter I include a " hospital ticket," taken from
a wounded Turk. Notice all the seals. Each Turk has
a seal which states his name and rank.
I send you also a proclamation in Hindustani dropped
by a Turco-German aviatik on the Indian soldiers at
6 in the morning on the z6th June in our French lines of
144 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the ist Division. There were also proclamations in
French to the Indo-French troops. I send you a specimen
translation. Your JOE.
PROCLAMATION TO INDIAN SOLDIERS AND ARMY.
" In this world a man goes to the battlefield, fights
with the enemy, and sacrifices his life, either for the purpose
of defending his religion, race, and country, or in order
to establish his honour and renown, or to obtain freedom
from the clutches of tyrants.
" But, O Hindu, Mussulman and Sikh soldiers of India !
just think and reflect awhile.
" Why have you come here ?
" Why are you losing and sacrificing your lives ?
" Why are you cut to death, to no purpose, by Turkish
swords and guns, making your wives widows and your
children orphans ?
" If you are thus cut to death here, what profit will it
be to your children, country and race ?
" O Indian brethren ! do you not know that these
English are they who snatched your country from you,
made you slaves, and are ruling over you in a very
tyrannical manner ? By levying fresh taxes they are
always sucking your blood, and have made you and your
country poor and impoverished. They rob your country
of its wealth, and you of your income, and take it home
to London.
" You know very well in what esteem they regard you,
for, under the British rule, natives of India are considered
worse and more contemptible than English dogs.
" But alas ! a thousandfold alas ! in spite of this you
have no regard for yourselves or your country, and have
A FRENCH REGIMENT IN RESERVE ON THE NORTH OK MORTO BAY.
DEBRIS AFTER THE BATTLE NEAR THE VERMESCH FOUNTAIN.
DRINKING WATER BROUGHT
BY PIPES FROM INSPECTED
SPRINGS.
A LITTLE FRENCH BOY WHO
TOOK PART IN THE OPERATIONS
IN GALLIPOLI FOR SOME WEFKS
FRENCH TROOPS IN DUG-OUTS AT GA1L1POLI.
SIEGE WARFARE 145
come here to help your enemies, and are giving up your
lives for nothing, fighting against us Mussulmans.
" At the present time the condition of the English and
their Allies is extremely desperate. The brave Germans
have taken possession of the whole of Belgium, and the
greater part of France, and have there killed hundreds of
thousands (lakhs) of English soldiers.
" The Germans have taken the whole of Russian Poland.
The Austrian and German armies have inflicted defeat
on defeat against the Russians, and up to now have made
about 1 1 million (15 lakhs) Russians prisoners.
" The German submarine battleships sink one or two
English vessels daily. What English battleships have
escaped are confined in ports or fortified places in England
— they are afraid to come out to sea.
" Our great Sultan, and Caliph of the Muslims, has
ordered all Muhammadans to wage a religious war (Jehad)
against the English, French, and others.
" The English are everywhere in the world in a serious
plight.
" In Singapore and Ceylon the Hindu and Sikh armies,
with the Muhammadan armies, have killed all the English,
and have taken possession of their cities and fortresses.
" You know very well how here in the Dardanelles
the English and French armies, in spite of the assistance
of battleships, are all along being defeated by the army
of the Turks. Thousands of English have lost their
lives, still they are unable to conquer, nor indeed will
they be able to conquer.
" A large number of submarines have come to us, and
have sunk several large English vessels, through fear of
which all other vessels keep concealed in the islands, and
do not aid you as before. We are about to get a great
many more submarines, from which the English ships
146 UNCENSORED LETTERS
cannot escape. No vessel will be able to come to your
assistance — what then will be your condition ? There
will be no other result except your being cut to death.
" Therefore, O Indian soldiers ! this is your opportunity.
Instead of dying for nothing by fighting against the Turks,
slay your tyrant enemies, the English, and take your
revenge on behalf of your forefathers and your country,
so that you may be honoured in the world, and it may
result in the freedom of India.
" If you cannot do this, then desert from your camp,
come to us, and take refuge in the Turkish army, and
save your lives. We shall treat you as brothers, and
shall not ill-treat you in any way, and you will live in
great comfort and honour.
" In proof of this, look at the picture given above of
those Indian soldiers who deserted from Suez and came
and took refuge with us, whom the great Sultan has so
highly honoured that he has ordered them to form his
special bodyguard, and who get a higher pay and more
honour than Turkish soldiers.
" We have done our duty in giving you this advice for
the sake of Muhammadan solidarity.
" To conclude, you are at liberty either to desert to us,
and save your lives, or to have your heads cut off, to no
purpose, along with the English."
CHAPTER IX
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS
July I, 8 p.m.
DEAREST ONE,
A quiet day to-day.
Colonel Nogues, who, as I wrote you, has been wounded,
has gone off all the way to Toulon. I hope with all my
heart he will reach the port in safety and recover soon.
July 2.
I have written at length to-day to my brave Colonel
Nogues.
To-morrow the Director of the Service de Sante, Mr.
Baratte, arrives here. I am doubtless going to return
to the 6th Colonial. I explained all that to you in a long
letter the other day.
July 3.
In war there are many sudden changes. For instance,
for several days I was head doctor of the Koum Kaleh ex-
pedition. I had then twenty-one doctors under my orders,
three hospital boats, and so on. Afterwards, when we dis-
embarked here on the 2gth of April, I became again the
simple head doctor of the 6th Colonial.
148 UNCENSORED LETTERS
A doctor from the Service de Sante came here, but only
remained a few days, hence a vacancy in the 1st Division,
to which I was nominated ad interim. In a few days I
shall become again head doctor of the 6th Colonial.
Let us have patience and wait. I am mentioned in
dispatches. I am the senior doctor with four stripes,
and have a good chance of passing higher soon. We
shall see.
Have as much patience as I ! Don't speak again of
coming to Sedd-el-Bahr ; don't talk of Alexandria !
Alexandria is still possible ; but why think of it when it
is not probable, and does not depend on us ?
Sedd-el-Bahr ! Even a general-in-chief would never
dream for an instant of bringing his wife here for five
minutes. Besides, General Gouraud has been very griev-
ously wounded when visiting a dressing station between
my field hospital and the hospital of the 2nd Division !
The Alexandria base which was going to be suppressed
will now be continued. I told you this in a previous letter.
We have a thousand wounded there. We receive our
provisions from there as well as from France and Greece.
At the very first second when it is possible for you to
come and join me I will cable you. You must be patient,
dear little wife.
Live very comfortably, spend your money, play tennis,
write and take care of your dear little self. Tell me that
you are calm and resigned, and that you are leading an
agreeable and easy existence. Strike Sedd-el-Bahr out
of your papers. Constantinople, yes !
Remember that you must be the braver, for if it hap-
pened that I was one day ill or wounded it would be your
letter which would give me life in giving me back courage.
Up till now everything goes well, but we live in an atmo-
sphere charged with lead.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 149
July 4.
I send you a sketch of the place where General Gouraud
was wounded. The General was blown over a wall of
ashlar about two metres high and over a fig tree almost
into the interior of the field hospital of the 2nd Division.
The ashlar wall was lined by a wall of empty wooden
shell cases. The General had his elbow bruised, his
thigh broken, his leg broken. They picked him up faint-
ing in the court of the field hospital. The fig tree had
broken his fall.
They are doubtless going to make a base at Tenedos.
There is a chance that I may be sent there. This
morning I saw the new Director of the Service de Sant6
of the C.E.O. He is sympathetic, and we will doubtless
get on well together.
To-day for the first time since the 29th of April I have
eaten bread — real bread not a day old. Ours is usually
eight or ten days old, and is mildewed.
s-
I received yesterday evening your letters of igth, 22nd
June, with photos and letters enclosed. Be good, and
don't say that you are sick of life, and that even my
letters are late. I need a good supply of courage, and
expect the most important part from you.
I am so glad the films arrived. I suppose bromide is
not the best paper for these small prints.
Play tennis. When you return to London, join a good
club. I advise you earnestly to do this. You can't
get on without your tennis.
Since 3 o'clock this morning the Turks have been vigor-
ously attacking the British lines. What a din till 12
o'clock, what a shower of shells ! Not an inch of ground
ISO UNCENSORED LETTERS
was spared. We are shot at like rabbits from all sides.
Fortunately, there is more noise than actual harm done.
It is said that at Sedd-el-Bahr, on Beach V., there are
several hundreds of dead horses. There has never been
such a heavy bombardment. The Turks are getting
bolder because the Navy is leaving us.
Formerly when the Asiatic coast dared to fire, two or
three boats replied. Now there are batteries at Koum
Kaleh. It is disgusting ! The enemy submarine is the
cause of this. Yesterday it sank the Carthage in the after-
noon. What is the English Fleet going to do ?
All the morning not a single human being was about.
Everybody was underground. But the poor horses caught
it all.
July 6.
Perhaps I shall go to Tenedos on a matter of hygiene.
Therefore, should there be a slight interruption of corre-
spondence, do not be astonished. I should not be sorry
to go and see something new. . . . Yesterday a very
great racket of artillery, with infantry attacks by those
gentlemen the Turks. The English have repulsed them.
To-day it is calm all along the line.
Your loving JOE.
>*y 7-
DEAR WIFE OF MINE,
I have received your letter of the 25th of June. Now
all my things are reaching you in a satisfactory manner,
but events are less interesting, and my films are coming
to an end. Probably you have already sent some spools.
If not, hurry up, because I might miss something.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 151
I hope you did not forget to send me a toothbrush.
A friend gave me one to go on with, but it is not a good
one. There is not a single shop on the peninsula for the
French soldiers. The authorities fear spies. The English
do not seem to care so much.
There is a rumour that something fresh will happen in
a few days. I can't say anything further. A great
success is at hand. . . .
In this incomparable scenery, when shells have stopped
raining down on us, when the infernal noise ceases, when
the wounded have been carried away and their groans
forgotten, delicious visions offer themselves to us soldiers.
At this twilight hour the beach is deserted. The peaceful
Hellespont has taken a uniform glaucous tint which dies
in silver waves on the golden shore. The Asiatic coast,
the immortal land of Troy, in the decline of a summer
day is pink, the pink of flesh and mother-of-pearl. The
sky is transparently blue.
It will soon be night. The warrior sees himself going
towards this golden beach with his beloved. Of what
value is fighting and glory or anything else in the world
since a single embrace makes one forget all that exists ?
In war one must never allow oneself to soften. I have
sufficient control over my brain to keep it in a practical
world of excellent mental balance into which sentimentality
and vanished dreams are not allowed to enter. I look
towards the future with joy and courage ; I do not linger
over the past. If the soldier at war gave time to thoughts
of love and caresses, little by little he would become
incapable of struggling on up the slope. He prefers to
keep going, and drives away every soft thought. But it
is hard to keep tender thoughts of you out of the mind of
Your true HUSBAND.
152 UNCENSORED LETTERS
July 8.
SWEETHEART,
A very calm but particularly hot day. The sea bath is
in high favour. Thousands of warriors bathe every day
in the blue waters. It is excellent. My horse is perfect,
and I take short but agreeable rides.
July 9.
I have at last been able to meet in his rear field hospital
Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. S., of Manchester, Mabel's cousin —
a man of a certain age, very amiable, whom I shall see
again with pleasure.
July 10.
A storm of sand has risen which makes life unbearable.
If it lasted long we should go mad. Just now I cannot
see a yard in front of me. Breathing is difficult.
This morning I went on horseback into the British
lines, and to Beach W. between Capes Teppe and Helles.
Even this wind of dust and sand was not enough to hinder
my riding. On the English side one has immediately the
impression that it is less shelled, more comfortable. Our
Allies also have more room. They are less squashed
together. From Beach W. is seen the overturned keel of
the Majestic.
The provisions are placed all along the cliffs — mountains
of cases. Towards Cape Helles there is a field hospital,
which I visited. The tents are large and airy. Every patient
has his mosquito curtain. I tried to see the Lieutenant-
Colonel, but he was out. I shall meet him to-morrow.
The Charlemagne, a French battleship, came this morning
from Lemnos, the lair where all the boats hide, and shelled
Yenisher and Koum Kaleh. What pleasure it gave us to
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 153
see that ! The Turks immediately answered back. We
hear that something new will happen before long. Inaction
is the worst thing of all, especially for the French.
Big reinforcements should be on the way from England.
You know that I always sleep fully dressed. I sleep
very well. I am quite satisfied with all my boots ; I
have three pairs ! ! ! They are the things of all others
most common here. One cannot go half a dozen yards
without seeing a cast-off pair of boots.
I think they would have liked to keep me in the division,
because I have done good work and solved a heap of
questions. Perhaps there will be some means of bringing
me back, but it is a little complicated.
July II.
A battle to-morrow ! The attack will be pushed forward
with all energy. I hope we shall advance. I have been
asked to keep the direction of the divisional operations
for the fight. Afterwards I shall return to my regiment,
which has greatly suffered, and is very much changed.
Good-night, little Wife. T
July 14.
MY DEAR,
There are so many flies in my dug-out that I am obliged
to write in almost complete darkness. You know how I
hate that, but I want to give you a description of the
fighting on the day before yesterday.
I am sending you a brass nose-cap of a Turkish rifle
and some prisoners' brass seals taken from them when
they were searched at the General Quarters on the I2th.
I sent you some Turkish papers on which were rows of
154 UNCENSORED LETTERS
seals. This is the instrument they are made with. Each
Turkish soldier has his seal.
We had a big fight on the I2th, and I had all the
wounded to evacuate. The ist Division, terribly broken, is
completely reorganised. Before the advance began at 7.15 a
huge " 105 " shell (I have held it in my hands and drawn
it in my album) fell on Post A of the divisional command.
Major Romieux, Chief of Staff, aged 45, was killed outright.
General Masnou had his skull pushed in and his knee
laid open. There were also wounded Colonel Bulleux,
Captain Berge, Captain Boissonas, many non-commis-
sioned officers and soldiers. You know Boissonas. He is
dangerously wounded in the head.
This morning I left the division. They made me a
thousand promises, congratulated me on my zeal, my
learned reports, and so on, but nothing definite. I am
again head doctor of the 6th Colonial. If they had not
all been wounded or killed they would doubtless have
made me stay. The Chief of Staff, who was an excessively
authoritative man, but very well informed, had promised
that he would have my appointment made permanent.
At first I got on rather badly with him because I held
my own, but afterwards he loved our discussions. It is
terrible to see a man like that die — a man of prodigious
energy and unequalled activity and intelligence.
I am now in a hole in the earth (very hard grey chalk).
The heat is pretty bad, but it is nothing to the flies.
The country is dried up beyond all expression. The
roads, with huge ruts from the heavy gun-carriages and
ammunition-cases, are rivers of white dust, which flies
up at the least breath of wind. A little breeze which
should refresh us only covers us with dust and sand.
But I must get on with my account of the battle of the
1 2th July.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 155
I was awakened at 4.30 a.m. by the noise of a vigorous
cannonade. I got up at once. To our left, on the English
side, the engagement had already begun. Intermittently
we heard the rumble of the ships' big guns. The British
Navy had not abandoned her soldiers.
At 5 o'clock the " 75 " nearest the quarters of the 1st
Division began to fire ; then a few minutes later our
"155*5" from the Monastere and Vermesch Ravines
joined in. Near us, on the beach, hundreds of English
were quietly bathing, and one of our African regiments
drilling. But on the Ferrero Bridge, opposite our quar-
ters, soldiers were passing uninterruptedly, one behind
the other in single file. They were in their light blue over-
coats, but had not their packs.
At 6 the divisional General Masnou, his chief of staff,
Major Romieux, and the officers in attendance go off on
horseback to their command post.
Our heavy artillery was answered vigorously from the
Asiatic coast, which often sent two or three huge " mar-
mites " at the same time. We came in for a share. The
Ferrero Bridge and surrounding camps were bombarded.
We heard that Sedd-el-Bahr had been shelled since day-
light.
In front of us, the cliffs and heights were submerged in
mist, smoke, and dust. It was impossible to distinguish
anything. We mounted on our shell-proof roof to see the
firing from the Asiatic coast.
On that side the atmosphere is clear and limpid. First
we saw a thick column of white smoke rise from a ravine
near the shore. Then came the explosion. The white
clouds of smoke for a time hid the flash. That is what
the Turks wanted.
In order to hide the exact positions of their guns, they
have made a curtain of smoke. This did not prevent our
156 UNCENSORED LETTERS
" I55's " from replying. The duel was an imposing spec-
tacle. Towards 7 o'clock all our artillery was in action.
In spite of this raging battle, fifty or more bathers were
still joyfully disporting themselves in Morto Bay. Carts
were passing in the usual way up and down the roads,
fetching water, bread, and meat. One might imagine that
there was a Saturday market close by.
The illusion is complete. There are vehicles of all
shapes and styles, some still bearing the enormous
addresses of the baker and grocer from whom they were
requisitioned. The drivers have taken off their tunics,
and for the most part walk beside their beasts in a not
very military garb.
It is very fine, without a cloud in the sky.
Soon after 7 o'clock the artillery duel seemed to be at
its height, and the noise was terrifying. We were sur-
rounded, as it were, by gigantic fountains of bursting shells.
Many shells fell on the cypress wood, which shelters a
Turkish cemetery. It was a refuge deliciously cool, rest-
ful, and full of poetry. Lately these cypress trees seem to
have been the special objective of the Turkish guns. Now
their destruction was imminent. Like arrows pointing
towards the sky these trees with their dark verdure were
bathed in the smoke of death.
For a minute they were to be seen, the next moment
they were hidden again. On the road from Sedd-el-Bahr,
which runs alongside the wood, artillery waggons came
galloping. They dashed into this furnace and disappeared,
reappearing intact a little further on.
Towards 8 o'clock the firing from the Asiatic coast was
still further accentuated. The explosions followed each
other still closer. Our little " 75*8 " gave furious answer,
without ever a break. Through the smoke of the cypress
wood we distinguished the flashes of our big guns.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 157
Our artillery was not intimidated. Our firing became
more and more powerful, and we had the last word. From
the slopes of the ravines our "155*3" bellow. Their
noise is solemn and heavy.
At 7.40 extremely powerful general crescendo. Asia
fires. We reply. Universal conflagration and frenzy,
which gives death and braves it. Moments of unspeakable
emotion when one thinks that it is all useless without
the courage of the little infantryman who emerges from
his trench with fixed bayonet. It is the moment of
attack. . . .
Meanwhile a British torpedo-boat had been advancing
towards the Straits. It was closely followed by two others,
and behind we saw a long line of black jets of smoke against
the blue of the inviolate Hellespont. We were astonished
and delighted. The Navy was returning.
But our delight was interrupted by a hail of bullets.
One buried itself in the plank at my feet. I changed my
position ; but another whistled past me, sending at the
same time a shower of sand down my neck.
We were told that a colonel had been wounded. Shells
seem to have set fire to something near the Vermesch
Fountain.
A French torpedo-boat crosses the Straits before Eski
Hissarlik. Whistlings, rumblings, bellowings, buzzing of
shells from all sides. When the guns cease for a second,
rifle fire is heard everywhere. Two torpedo-boats come
out of the Straits, letting off broadsides on the enemy's
coast. Some of the shells intended for them reach us
even here.
At a quarter past 8 we were told that a shell had fallen
on post A of the 1st Division, causing great damage.
Major Romieux had been killed, and General Masnou
severely wounded. All those at this post were apparently
158 UNCENSORED LETTERS
wounded. There were eight or nine of them, nearly all
on the staff of the ist Division. Colonel Bulleux, com-
manding the ist Colonial Brigade, is among the wounded,
also Captain Boissonas, of the General Staff.
At half-past 8 an ambulance carriage arrived at our
general quarters. It brought back the body of Major
Romieux, the most active and enterprising man of all the
Eastern army. His skull was broken. A big bandage
hid the wound. We took him on the khaki stretcher and
placed him in the dug-out left empty by the departure of
Captain Ruault.
Captain Berge arrived in an ambulance carriage,
wounded in the head. He was with two or three other
wounded men. I offered my services to him, but he only
wanted one thing — to reach the hospital as soon as possible.
The uneven and dusty roads are very painful for our
wounded.
8.35. — I hear great broadsides from the Fleet. It
seems that they are not the first, but I was so busy with
the wounded that I did not hear them.
9.20. — An aeroplane, saluted by shrapnel, flies over us.
It is a friendly English one. It has a red and white
cockade.
We do not know the result of the engagement. The
British were to deliver a most important attack. Our
programme was more modest, our reserves being in-
sufficient. We were, however, to take some trenches
near the Kereves Dere Ravine.
At 10 o'clock, when the firing had died down a little,
and there were moments of respite (the first since 4 o'clock),
four men carried into our general quarters a wounded
man on a stretcher. His face was hidden under a news-
paper. I lifted it and found our General. His eyes were
half closed, and he recognised nobody. I had him
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 159
accompanied to the hospital by one of my doctors. We
were very much upset. General Masnou was all that was
good and kindly.
The guns stopped firing about 10.30. The silence was
impressive. Immediately the grasshoppers began to
sing in the foliage, heavy with powder and dust.
General Masnou has been hit in the skull. He has also
received a serious wound in the right knee. However,
he has been landed in good condition on the Bretagne.
11.55. — A torpedo-destroyer returns from Kereves Dere.
The cannonade is slow, intermittent. The Turkish
replies have long since weakened. When things at last
seem quieting down the " 75*5 " begin again.
At midday we tried to get some food. We heard that
everything had gone off well, but had no details. During
the siesta the grasshoppers sang while the soldiers were
sawing planks for the coffin of our comrade. The ordinary
life of every day was taken up. Soldiers were crowding
round the fountains, and hundreds of them were bathing
in the sea. I hear that two doctors have been wounded.
In the middle of the afternoon the guns began again,
and we heard that the attack was to be continued in order
to ensure the successes already gained. Turkish prisoners
were brought in very exhausted. They said that they
had had no food for two days. Meanwhile reinforcements
were moving forward incessantly.
Between 7 and 8 p.m. all the guns — " 75*5 " and
" I55's" — were in action again. Reserves were still
going up. Somebody telephoned to me, " Knowing that
you like an advance, I may tell you that we have taken
the Turkish trenches H, I, J, and K." We rushed to the
map. The news was good.
As darkness set in Chanak sent out flashlights on the
sea, and on our right. Fuses lit up all the front.
160 UNCENSORED LETTERS
At 10 p.m. Lieutenant-Colonel Vernhol came from the
quarters of the ist Division, as head of the staff, and took
over the command immediately, in case of a new situation
arising during the night. We talked over the events of
the day, for ever memorable for the ist Division.
It was very late before we separated. I returned to my
sleeping quarters, where the events of the last twenty-four
hours had left me the only occupant. This day of July 12
proves our superiority over the Turks. The resistance
of the enemy seemed to be weakening. The British
forces deployed on the left, and went forward gloriously.
Your weary but quite sound and well HUSBAND.
July 15.
MY DEAR ONE,
I am at the foot of the cliffs of Eski Hissarlik, a few
yards from the seashore in the Bay of Morto, second line.
My regiment is in the first line. Only one battalion occu-
pies the advanced trenches.
I went to see them this morning to reorganise the
service, distribute the doctors, and so forth. What
odours in all this glorious beauty ! When it does not
frankly smell of humanity it is that of corpses. There
are parapets made of them. They have been covered with
earth, lime, or cresyl ; but when a bullet upsets the good
order the air becomes unbearable. In one trench I walked
on planks which rebounded elastically from Turkish corpses !
Yesterday the English monitors made their appearance.
They fired in the night on Erenkeni and on the batteries
of Koum Kaleh, from the direction of Saros, across the
peninsula and above us. What an uproar ! Poor Erenkeni !
This village, terraced along the Hellespont, was deliciously
picturesque. Up till now it had not been touched.
TIIK UAKMANKU.KS STRAITS h ROM NEAR K«KI HISSARI.IK.
A VIKW OF KSK1 HISSARI.IK.
AN OLD HOUSE AT TENEDOS. THE CASTLE OF TENEDOS.
THE PORT OF 1ENEDOS.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 161
The English fought well in their recent advance. It
must be they who form the left wing who must push
forward. We, the French, have three big obstacles in
front of us.
Everything obeys the cannon here ; and when it speaks
the whole of this old cliff, which has seen Troy and Helen,
Agamemnon, Alexander the Great, and Xerxes, trembles
to its base. Your loving JOE.
July 17.
LITTLE WIFIE,
You see that our life does not lack change. I have
left the Division Headquarters and come back to the
6th Regiment. Without Colonel Nogues the 6th is only
a sort of a regiment. I wish my fifth stripe would come
so that I might get a change.
July 18.
The temperature is getting more and more tropical in
this country — the battleground of so many races through
the centuries.
The British worked well on the I2th. It is, as I
thought, the left wing that must move forward, for on that
side is the road which leads to Achi Baba.
July 19.
You tell me you are writing to Dr. R. Let me tell you
that I do not approve, and that I don't want you to leave
Europe with a war mission. I am absolutely put out and
annoyed. I don't understand where you get such ideas.
There are enough men to support the horrors of war
without adding women. You say you want to serve on a
U.10 u
162 UNCENSORED LETTERS
boat, but I hope they will only take very experienced
nurses. Others are useless and consequently harmful.
From an egotistical and personal point of view I could
not, without great anxiety and agitation, see you exposed
to grave dangers. I cannot even bear the thought of it.
There are enough fighters in your family and mine. And
then imagine that one day I might arrive ill or wounded
at Toulon or Marseilles. You would be gone !
If you came out on a hospital boat here I could not
even go and see you. I have not yet been on a single
boat since I left the Savoie on April 29. I do not know
how you picture our life here. I beg of you to keep quiet.
I am excessively annoyed at what you are trying to do.
But let us both forget this mad project.
I often thank you for my admirable watch. I had it
attended to in Alexandria, and since then it has not
failed me. It does its duty. You don't know how
attached we become to our small possessions, and how
grateful we are to them for services rendered.
As for people, it is incredible what diversities they
exhibit in situations like those here. Each has his egoism
and his idiosyncrasies. Those men are very rare who, in
impending danger and in the face of death, think of their
neighbours. The life in common, the emotions experienced,
centred around the same menace, throw into relief each
one's qualities and defects.
It is seldom that this continuity does not conduce to
indulgence, and render sympathetic the greater part of
one's " comrades." Brave men are legion. The Service
de Sante of the 6th is one family.
I was very stern at first. Now all goes smoothly. My
ideas and my method of procedure are now known. I like
my subordinates, and I think that many of them like me.
They welcomed me so heartily when I returned to them.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 163
You should have seen the large handshakes of the blacks,
with their frank, sonorous laughs.
As to the Europeans, I have some exceptional men.
Sergeant Lamendier Afrighi is a Corsican, energetic, very
brave, very clear-headed, who preferred to forego promo-
tion rather than leave me. The corporal stretcher-bearer
is the priest who figures in my photographs of the mass.
He is a silent fellow, with a very high idea of duty, ready
for the most perilous and arduous missions, an example
to everyone.
Yesterday, after visiting the sick, he said to me, " It is
Sunday. Can I say mass ? " And under the casemate
he made liturgical gestures. We stood behind him, following
the service, and at the same time letting our imaginations
wander. We could see beyond, the road whereon the men
followed close on each other in a whirlwind of thick dust.
Farther on the vision took in the excavations of Eleonte,
where other civilisations and other gods had had their
actors, warriors, priests, and philosophers. Is there really
to-day more beauty, more human pity ?
But I forget the others. There is Corporal RiflFat, who
has been my secretary from the first, and who is
remarkably capable. Of a very even temperament, he
does his work with a smile. He was a clerk in the
Banquede France, very refined, very intelligent, and well
educated.
There is the celebrated Borella, who is a cyclist. Never
tired, of perfect temper, he carries a note as well in the midst
of bullets and shrapnel as (formerly) in fields of poppies or
(to-day) in gulfs of dust. He is a working electrician,
and very clever.
You already know Korka, — very clean, very lazy, thin,
tall, knowing well how to put up a tent, a bed, but quite
incapable of boiling an egg. Clerc, my groom, is a pearl.
164 UNCENSORED LETTERS
He is excellent, calm, clean, gentle. He looks after my
horses to perfection. I ride every day. My " Golden "
is most beautiful, and I love him very much. But no one
in the world so much as you, my wife. Your TOE
TENEDOS, July 21.
DEAREST,
I received this morning on waking your letter of the
4th, The Times, Sphere, Illustrated London News. Thanks
very much.
Here I am lying under the pines of the island of Tenedos.
The contrast between to-day and these last months is
striking. After the hell of Gallipoli it is the rest of the
Garden of Eden, where hours do not count, where there
are no noises, nor threats of death.
The sea breeze is soft and refreshing.
I will now go back to the I9th. I start off at 7.30 on
horseback ; and after stopping at the rear dressing
station go on to the first line. I see Nibaudeau and
Artillery Commander Holtzapfel.
Through the loopholes they explain to me the configura-
tion of the ground which I already know, and the new
trenches gained on the I2th and I3th. Afterwards I push
right on to the point L which dominates Kereves Dere.
I distinguish the bodies of many Senegalese who had
dashed forward to the attack on the I3th. They were
in their dark blue overcoats. They have all died in fight-
ing attitudes : it is a sublime panorama, which no canvas
could ever render. One trench, called " The Grey Trench,"
appears to have been filled up. I am told to adjust my
field glasses. Yes, it is full of Turkish corpses. . . .
At 7 in the evening I received word from Comman-
dant Calliste, commanding the 6th Colonial : " The
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 165
ist Battalion goes this evening to Tenedos to rest." I
go to see him. It is agreed that I shall accompany the
ist Battalion.
At 8.30 I take a pinnace (big motor cutter) which
crosses Morto Bay and puts me on board the Marie
Antoinette, which was to leave that night for Tenedos. While
waiting I seat myself comfortably on the gangway leaning
up against the River Clyde, the famous steamer run aground
by the English on Beach W, where I am joined by an
excellent colleague, Dr. Richet, who is also going to
recuperate in Tenedos.
The evening is marvellous. The stars are shining with
more than their ordinary brilliancy. Suddenly about
1 1 o'clock four shells burst almost at the same time, a few
metres in front of us, with tremendous uproar. We had
hardly recovered from our surprise when we received a
second dose, then a third. . . . After half an hour the
bombardment was no longer directed on us.
The first lot of shells had touched nobody. The second
lot had fallen in the middle of a company of my regiment,
who were waiting to embark, near Sedd-el-Bahr Castle.
It was a terrible carnage. Fifty men were killed or
wounded. The survivors made a dash for the boats.
Little by little order was re-established.
Now that the enemy had found us, it was probable they
would try to sink our three boats. The first two, the
smallest boats, got off all right. With many precautions,
and silently, all our lights were put out. We let go our
moorings. Our hearts were beating fast. Having escaped
the shells from the Asiatic coast we had to escape the
submarines. At last we arrived safely just as the day was
dawning.
In front of me is an immense plain, the French-
English aviation ground of the C.E.O. It is magnificent.
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Imagine the finest of aerodromes where machines are
endlessly in motion.
The aviators are extraordinary men, very intelligent,
very determined, who render the greatest services to the
Allied armies. It is very agreeable to chat with them.
They accomplish daring deeds every day.
My tent is in an isolated pine wood, about 200 metres from
the western shore. It is so far away that the other even-
ing I was lost and could not find it. ... I am now lying
outside, in the shade of the pines, which join their branches
right down to the ground.
The sea breeze is soft and refreshing. The needles of
the pines make a music of which one never tires. Beyond
the green fringes of the pines, beyond the golden glimpses
of the dunes, appears the incomparable blue sea of Greece,
and still further the distant blue and lilac horizons of
Imbros and Samothrace.
The sunsets here are splendid, divine. What an experi-
ence ! What a dream this first night at Tenedos ! I had
not slept like that for months. Think of it ! To be certain
of waking up, far from the blood, far from the noise, the
tortures, and the anguish of war.
Good-night, blessed One ! T
TENEDOS, July 23.
MY DEAR WIFE,
It seems to me that I hear the distant guns, but I am
not sure. The great outspread wings of the aeroplanes in
harmony with this beautiful sky drown the distant noise
with their comforting music.
At 5 o'clock this morning we took our horses and followed
the Tenedos road, which leads to the town — an enchanting
road, where children smiled up at us, and where women
were gathering the summer's fruit from the orchards.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 167
So there still remain for us corners of the earth where
there are no trenches or soldiers — no rifles or guns !
This country is magnificent. Tenedos is a little town,
very ancient and very original with its castle of the Middle
Ages. The houses on the slopes, the rows of mills on the
crests of the hills, the busy port with its curious little boats,
the winding streets with their garlands of green vines,
make it very picturesque.
The castle was built by the Venetians. Its lines are
very pure, and have been traced by an artist's hand against
the blue sky. I have sketched and photographed it. I
want to remember it ; its stones are laden with history.
At present one sees there a few Greek soldiers and some
of His Britannic Majesty's. The latter seem quite at home.
I do not know how long I shall remain at Tenedos,
probably seven or eight days. The rest has done me a
great deal of good. I shall go back to my work as well as
if I had just come out from France.
TENEDOS, July 25.
6 p.m.. .1 am in the town of Tenedos, which I like very
much. I have been getting on with my rest cure for the
last week. It is a delightful pause. I am recouping my
strength, and I have need of it.
I have just had a trip to sea in a motor boat to look for
a precious spring whose water was formerly brought to the
town. On our return we climbed one of the hills which
surround the fort — the Hill of the Mills towards Asia ; and
from there we beheld a bombardment of Koum Kaleh and
Yenisher, even In Tepe and Erenkeui, by the new monitors.
It was a series of thunder-claps, and extraordinary in this
serene sky. The inhabitants of Tenedos, men on one side,
women on the other (Oriental fashion), looked on spell-
bound, j.
168 UNCENSORED LETTERS
MORTO BAY, July 30.
MY OWN,
I arrived back in Gallipoli from Tenedos yesterday
morning. The peninsula is hot, dusty, and full of flies.
Our return voyage went off all right, but I did not sleep a
single minute. I explained to you how we were bombarded
by the Turks on starting for Tenedos. I hear now that
there were 18 killed and 48 wounded in one company of
this regiment.
I wrote little, save postcards, to you from Tenedos
island. In this land of bucolic quiet I abandoned myself
to a complete repose. In this idleness I understood the
antique pantheism in which every creature proceeded from
the gods. I was the golden atom of the sun's dying ray,
or the scented essence of the evergreen pine which perfumes
the solitary night. Also, in remembrance of the Far
East, where I have passed many of my days, I thought
that there was room in the Greek heaven for a Nirvana
to console warriors.
These few days at Tenedos were delicious. I was
among the pines. Above their cropped summits, beyond
the stretches of fine sand, islands emerged from the emerald
sea. Always beautiful, the sea varied as if at will, according
to the hours of the day, the splendours of its blue.
The southern coast of Tenedos is jagged. There are
steep cliffs like those of the English Channel, and these
cliffs are as white as marble. The wind and spray have
shaped and sculptured them. No cup is more worthy to
contain the emeralds of this sea.
The hour of sunset is impressive. There is so much
beauty all around that one is not astonished that these
countries were privileged, and that the gods chose them
among all others when descending to earth.
One cannot help continually evoking the mythological
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 169
phantoms of those who dreamed here before us — thousands
and thousands of years before us.
It is impossible to describe these Greek sunsets. The
other day I was on a small hill looking towards the setting
sun. The lines of distant islands rose out of the water.
Lemnos appeared to the left of Imbros, so close and
distinct. Beyond were Samothrace, Mount Athos, Strati,
Thasos.
I believe that Homer spoke of Tenedos and praised its
vines, which are still famous. He also dwelt on the
beauty of its daughters. The famous Briseis was supposed
to come from Tenedos.
I must say the sisters of Briseis to-day do not seem
great admirers of heroes. They are dull and sad, doubtless
victims of the Eastern Mussulman prejudices. They seem
to live apart, and are nearly always hidden. They neither
walk nor drive, nor go to the cafes and restaurants, where
the men pass all their time.
Happier were the warriors of former times who could
watch Nausicaa, her veils thrown aside, playing at ball in
this subtle atmosphere. As a matter of fact, it was on
the other shore. . . .
It is amusing to be near an aerodrome and live with
aviators. These birds fly off and return all day long.
They carry in every direction the boldness of their inspec-
tion, the sureness of their blows. The work to be done is
distributed every day. Some spot batteries and groupings
of troops ; others throw bombs ; others photograph the
country, and give us the most beautiful maps.
They are enterprising, marvellous, sublime. The English
vie with the French in everything. One night the English
flew quite low over a Turkish regiment and turned their
machine-guns on them.
Three days ago an English aeroplane, returning to
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Tenedos after accomplishing some exploit, fell into the
sea. Aviators from the French camp went to the rescue,
and saved the men. They were just in time. One airman
had fainted ; the other was wounded and drowning.
Sometimes twelve or fifteen French aeroplanes go
together to bombard some place. The other day they
went to the Chanak aerodrome. Captain Cesari led them.
The very first bomb set the petroleum depot on fire.
A tongue of flame sprang up, followed by clouds of acrid,
thick, black smoke. The other airmen let go their bombs.
Their mission was completely successful. You should
hear them talk about that !
Did I tell you how I had the good luck to meet Lieutenant-
Colonel Mullins, lieutenant-colonel of " Marines," Military
Governor of Tenedos island ? By chance, when I went to
Tenedos town, I left a card at the Governor's residence,
which is about eight kilometres from the aerodrome.
The next day he returned my visit, but did not see me as I
was out riding. He left a message saying that he knew
you and all your family, and would like to see me.
I dined with him the next day. There were other
guests, some most interesting, and speaking French
perfectly. To see the table laid and the meal served
exactly as in England was to me an extraordinary, a
prodigious thing.
I left on horseback about 10.30, but the road at night
was so beautiful that I returned very slowly, and was
not in bed till I a.m. I owe Colonel Mullins some of my
best hours during these last months.
During the night 2pth — 3oth we left Tenedos. It was
with regret, but I have no more that feeling of remorse
which I had when I was so happy in Tenedos and heard
the guns in Gallipoli.
Let us get back to hell. I was surprised not to find it
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 171
still more awful. The contrast is naturally very great,
but the rest has given me new courage.
It was a real pleasure to shake the brave hands of those
who have struggled with me. Both whites and blacks
made a great fuss of me. " Adieu, m6decin chef ; toi va
bien ! " said the big smiling blacks.
Your loving HUSBAND.
P.S. — I have explained to you how we were bombarded
by the Turks at Sedd-el-Bahr when we embarked for
Tenedos. On the return journey and landing nothing
happened.
July 31.
DEAR WIFE,
My long letter of yesterday was only posted to-day.
I want to send you two spools at the same time. One
contains many views of Tenedos, except the last one
(No. 8), which represents the Plas platform, a sort of fort
in our first lines, whence dashed out simultaneously two or
three sections of riflemen with fixed bayonets ! Now it is
already a good way off the Turks.
I am again in the same dug-out to the north of Morto
Bay where I was living before I went away.
I went to-day right up to the first line trenches with
Nibaudeau, who is again in command of the regiment. In
that capacity he had to inspect the lines and present some
war crosses. We were very interested in the point X
taken two or three days before.
Our troops occupy all the southern slopes of the Kereves
Dere, and dominate the whole ravine ; but just opposite and
above us are the Turks. Some of our trenches are exposed
in enfilade to the enemy's musketry fire. It is very danger-
172 UNCENSORED LETTERS
ous to move about in them. This morning bullets were
whistling here and there.
As a rule one must not look for the picturesque on an
excursion in the trenches ; but here, owing to the charac-
teristics of the ground, there is not a single dull minute.
After a few minutes in a deep communication trench one
can come right out into the open without the slightest risk.
The panorama is magnificent, the trees which cover the
Kereves, the glimpses on its spurs and capes, then the sea,
the Hellespont, and the Asiatic coast.
A little farther on it is also very fine, but that is on the
North slope of Kereves. It is best to pass this at a run,
with head down. The liveliest don't joke there.
The trenches are high, in good condition, and their
parapets well provided with earth sacks. Some soldiers
are on the look-out and shooting from time to time ; others,
like dead men, are stretched at full length on the ground,
sleeping. Once we came on a section lying flat on their
stomachs watching a group of Turks. The machine-gun
beside them was all ready to fire.
Sometimes I stopped to talk to our brave fellows. They
are superb, full of energy, but very thin, streaming with
perspiration, dirty, their clothes worn and stained.
Exposed to this fearful heat, this blinding dust, covered
with flies, they have also to breathe an air which is
saturated with the putrefaction of dead bodies.
Brave little soldiers who are making history in this
stinking heap, how you ought to be loved ! If you die
presently no Pantheon will be prepared for you, for are you
not taking part in the triumphal march on Constantinople?
Happily, he himself, from his foul den, also writes to
the girl over there, the girl that he loves. She will write
back beautiful naive things, through which the miracle of
courage will be accomplished.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 173
I photographed a gruesome sight very common in our
trenches — two feet of a Turkish corpse sticking out.
We had to dig communication trenches in a district
where quantities of Turks had been buried. It was abso-
lutely necessary to pass there and not elsewhere. I will
not go into details.
You see by the length of my letter that we have plenty
of leisure. It is the Turks who wish it so. Though a
ferocious attack of 100,000 (?) Turks had been expected,
we have never been so quiet as during the last eight
days.
A gun shoots from time to time just to remind us that
we are at war. Are the Turks coming to an end of their
munitions ? Do they wish us to fall asleep and then mean
to attack us suddenly ? You may be sure that we are not
sleeping. Not only are we wide awake, but are preparing
something on our side.
Best love and many kisses from Your TOE.
August 7.
MY OWN,
Again one of those days when one considers oneself lucky
to be alive. During the last two days the English have
been landing whole divisions at new points in Gallipoli.
We therefore on the right wing made an attack this morn-
ing at II o'clock.
Huge artillery preparation, but without great result,
for the Turks' trenches were too near ours — sometimes
they were only twenty metres apart — to allow our guns
to play on them. The artillery " barrage " operated well
behind, but that did not prevent the Turks from crowd-
ing into their first-line trenches.
The Turks, " lacking in munitions " (see English and
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French papers), are sending a hail of " marmites " on us.
Our Morto Bay ambulance has been twice bombarded.
It was really terrifying.
I took refuge in a hut which contained a sort of alcove
in one of its walls. No use. While I was reading my
paper there the whole hut was smashed in, and for two or
three minutes I did not know what had happened to me.
Luckily I was partly protected by the excavation itself.
A shell had burst five metres above me, on the slope of
the hill.
It was earth, and happily not a single piece of shrapnel,
which destroyed the hut and covered me. One more shock
experienced ! In spite of everything, a feeling of optimism
prevails, and, above all, a desire to see something fresh
happen.
August 9.
On August 7 there was a general attack while the British
were effecting new landings to the north of Gaba Tepe.
Our regiment was the first for this attack. The Kereves
Dere is a formidable position which has already cost us
many lives, and which cannot be taken by a frontal attack.
We are waiting for the English, who are advancing on the
left. They have captured nine machine-guns and made
600 prisoners. You will know about this better than we
do from the London papers.
I told you that I had been half buried in a hut on
August 7. I was certain that we had been bombarded
by a ship, and that the shell which fell just over us was a
naval projectile.
I was right. It came from an insolent Turkish cruiser,
which had come up quite close to Chanak, and was calmly
firing on us quite at its ease, since all our boats are
now at Moudros, even on the days when we fight. The
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 175
English have succeeded in landing their troops at Suvla
Bay to the north of Gaba Tepe. Hurrah ! There will be
something new to record before long !
On August 7 a shell fell on a field hospital, killing
two doctors and wounding a third.
In our lines a Senegalese, a great big fellow, was carrying
a sack of grenades on his head when a Turkish sharp-
shooter landed a bullet in the middle of it. The whole
thing exploded. The black was cut in two, and several
other blacks near him were killed or wounded.
I have no more tooth powder. Don't fail to send me,
also tooth brushes, soap for shaving, razor blades, two
cakes of Pears' soap, a pair of slippers, two handkerchiefs,
two brown boot-laces, and the first volume of the " Iliad."
Your devoted HUSBAND.
August 13.
MY WIFE,
To-day I met in the trenches the new divisional
general who has replaced General Masnou. He is General
Brulard, already famous in Morocco. May he have more
luck than his predecessors — d'Amade, recalled and ill ;
Gouraud, severely wounded ; Masnou, killed ; Ganeval,
killed.
The English attacked yesterday and to-night, to make
a diversion, and doubtless to leave free the other divisions
which had landed and were advancing on Maidos. When
shall we make a real advance ?
August 15, 1915.
These last days I have had more work and little time for
writing. Yesterday I went into the trenches twice. Com-
ing back I saw the " 155 " guns firing. Later the fleet,
176 UNCENSORED LETTERS
monitors, even the battleships, joined in. It appears that
the Turks were assembling their Asiatic troops in the
hopes of reaching Maidos, in order to stop the British
advance.
You understand the move — from Koum Kaleh by road
to Erenkeui, then to Chanak, and from Chanak to Maidos.
Our batteries began to work with the help of our aeroplanes.
We caught them at every shot.
When darkness set in the boats took in enfilade the Koum
Kaleh-Chanak road and the Chanak-Maidos passage. The
noise was terrific. The earth trembled. Every monitor
makes a greater din than the Queen Elizabeth.
I hope that the Turkish troops have been disorganised
and delayed, and that the British will have had time to
organise and strengthen their newly won positions. These
new facts may perhaps bring forth the elements of victory.
I was able to go the other day to the Eleonte excavation
fields, which are quite close to my present dressing station —
that is to say, just behind the last trenches at present
occupied. From this necropolis, full of open sarcophagi,
one overlooks to the south a portion of Morto Bay, and to
the north one can distinguish quite clearly the crest of
Achi Baba. It is still continually swept by shells from
there, for behind there is a " 75 " battery, which is always
in action.
A huge " 210 " shell recently dug a round, regular,
crater-like hole here, such as one comes across so often in
Gallipoli. The shell fell just in front of a sepulchre shut
up twenty centuries ago. The stone door was burst open.
The tomb was constructed with great regularity and
lined with perfectly-cut stones. It is a room in which one
could live — about two yards long by one and a half wide,
and one and a half high. Only a few bones were found
inside, which immediately turned to dust.
GKNKKAL KAII.LOl'D IH CONSULTATION WITH HIS STAFF. A
TURKISH SAP HAS JUST BEEN DISCOVERED UNDER THE FRENCH
LINES.
•
\\I\CKD TORPEDOES FROM THE FRENCH " CRAPOt'Il.LARD " — A
TRENCH MORTAR.
THE ELEOXTE NECROPOLIS. ENORMOUS URNS CONTAINING
TWO CORPSES.
A MAGNIFICENT STONE-SLABBED TOMB IN THE ELEONTE
NECROPOLIS.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 177
While digging close by, two enormous earthen jars were
found, about one and a half yards long and with an opening
of half a yard across. They were side by side, one broken
and the other intact.
A soldier told me that in each jar there were two
skeletons. Man and wife ? Lovers ? They had slept together
for twenty centuries. What profanation, what a crime to
have interrupted a union which promised to be immortal !
August 1 8.
Received the cake ! Triumph, consolation, strength
for the hardiest warriors in the Dardanelles ! Nothing
new to relate.
I will post this to-night with all my love. T
August 24.
DEAREST,
I am low spirited, for I receive no papers, no correspon-
dence. News is fabricated here, as we have none. It is
said that a great naval battle has taken place off Calais.
Yesterday I went to see Dr. Steinhal, just back from
Moudros. Over there they know no more than here. I
lunched with him — a meal spread and served as in London.
What a contrast between their table and ours ! It is
true that they are really in the rear there, and are not
constantly having to change their camp.
However, there is talk of moving their dressing station
forward a kilometre.
Complete calm for several days. The brunt must ali
be on the English at Anzac !
August 26.
I have not yet received the tooth-brush ! I am begin-
ning to use up my reserves of toilet articles and linen. All
i;8 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the same, don't send anything, because it doesn't get here.
Besides, there is a Providence in difficulties. Hearken !
The Government of the Republic has dowered its soldiers,
of all colours, with all sorts of things — slippers, for instance
— but has completely neglected shirts ! We cease not to
implore shirts from M. Lebureau in Paris ; but up to the
present there has been no reply. Not a single shirt has
been distributed to the troops of my regiment since the
4th of March.
Then I reckoned on England, with which, as you know,
I keep up excellent relations out here. One day I risked
asking for one of those beautiful khaki shirts, which would
make me so happy. Our Allies like them very much,
and are proud to show them to everybody. That is why
they never wear their tunics.
After several days the English M. Lebureau, of W.
Beach, replied that the " privilege " of buying from the
English shops was reserved for officers of the " Great
General Staff" of the C.E.O.
Korka, seeing my amazement, thought a catastrophe
had happened. I explained to him what was the matter.
He began to laugh, and went to look for a parcel carefully
folded in a newspaper and tied with a pink string. Korka
is very careful and always very smart.
" Me give," said he, holding out to me a new shirt with
extraordinary flowers on it like floral tapestry.
" How much do you want, Korka ? "
Disdainful, and always lordly, Korka repeats : " Me
give," adding, " Madame present." " Madame " means
the nurse who looked after him when he was wounded in
France.
And that's where the gifts of the Red Cross go !
Yesterday the weather was close, heavy, stormy. The
sky was covered by thick clouds, there was thunder from
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 179
time to time. It might have been the Queen Elizabeth, but
less well done. The season is certainly changing.
The Gallipoli sky, which was always a limpid blue
unspotted by the smallest cloud, has been quite changed
the last ten days. It is going to rain ; it will turn cold.
We are thinking of winter, and have begun to prepare
winter quarters.
What will our trenches be like ? What will become of
us ? Some say that the Senegalese cannot stand the
French winter, and that the Gallipoli winter is still more
severe.
In any event, I am looking into ways of making it
possible for my regiment to pass the winter here.
As for myself, I shall settle down in my present position,
which is at Eski Hissarlik, right on the edge of Morto Bay.
I shall thus avoid changing every six days. It is within
reach of all my battalions. I can visit them every day on
horseback. Things are so arranged that six days are spent
in the trenches and six days resting in the rear. My post
is between. I think of having armoured plates to make
myself a shell-proof hole. Love from JOE
August 27.
DEAREST GIRL,
I have just returned from lunching with Colonel Ruef,
who was commander-in-chief at Koum Kaleh, where his
chest was perforated by a bullet. He is healed, and has
returned to us.
Colonel Bulleux has just been made General. I con-
gratulated him. He never meets me without saying " You
still with only four stripes, when even in Paris you were
the model medicin-major ? "
Enclosed is a journal entirely from the pen of my right
i8o UNCENSORED LETTERS
hand : Dr. Neel. It is full of wit, though certainly not
intended for young girls. I send it to you all the same.
Have I told you that I have named my No. I horse
" Golden " because it is a remarkably golden chestnut,
and because it deserves to bear, after Golden I. of Nhatrang,
an already illustrious name ?
August 28.
The bravest man of the whole regiment, Adjutant
Giaconini, was killed this morning. He was watching
Turkish soldiers in their trenches, through his field-glasses,
at a loophole in the first line. They were only 100 metres
away.
A bullet passed through the loophole, killing him instan-
taneously. I have already spoken to you about him. It
was he who was decorated on June 4 by General Gouraud
for having " killed six Turks with his own hand and cap-
tured a machine-gun, which he dragged back into the
French lines."
All the regiment was in the advanced trenches this
morning. The body of Giaconini had been left in a corner
of Morto Bay cemetery. I went myself to superintend
the digging of the grave into which he was gently laid to
rest. Nobody was there to render a last homage or fire
a salute.
The regiment was too much occupied and too far away,
so I asked for volunteers close by. Men came from the
kitchens, from a machine-gun section, from the artillery.
Their uniforms were dirty, their guns rusty. A sergeant
of the Territorials gave the traditional commands.
The little ceremony was not badly done all the same.
When we have time to honour our dead Adjutant Giaconini
will have a place apart.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 181
August 30.
The Turks have started bombarding again. Since
yesterday they have been using a " 150" gun which is
very deadly.
This morning I started out for the trenches at 7. I was
in Colonel B£trix's command post when I learnt by
telephone that a big shell had burst at the waterhead,
that is to say, at the place to which mules carry water-
casks and where the men go to fill their water-bottles
and their own casks. There had several times been a
discussion about changing this too-exposed water-head.
About 8 a group of twenty to twenty-five persons could be
seen from Achi Baba. The Turks directed on this spot
a " 150" shell, charged with a quantity of lead bullets.
It burst a dozen yards above. Close to these casks,
riddled like sieves, lay a dozen soldiers bathed in blood.
I arrived ten minutes after. Four were dead — Artillery
Major Aubry, another European, and two Senegalese. Two
wounded had already been picked up. I turned my
attention to the others, and sent to the dressing station
for stretchers, vehicles, doctors.
The major was killed almost by accident as he was just
passing. He was caught full in the chest by shrapnel,
and died instantly. Four more of the wounded won't live.
You see that the Turks still have munitions — and better
ones. Yesterday they also sprinkled us, but with less
success. I myself was in the path of a shell, and once more
came out untouched. He is lucky, is Your TOE.
August 31.
DEAREST,
We are all sad to-day as we mourn one of the best-loved
men in the regiment. He was the youngest sub-lieutenant
182 UNCENSORED LETTERS
in the Eastern Army. He was nineteen. His name was
Paul Rayes.
We called him " Paulette " because of his youth-
ful clear - complexioned face. His slight figure was
always held very erect when he was commanding his
men.
He had under his orders a section of machine-guns com-
posed of old Colonials, a very difficult group to manage.
They were not frightened of the " baby," but they felt
quite different when he was near them. They loved him
as their child.
Paul Rayes had passed into Saint Cyr a few days before
war broke out ; but instead of entering the school to begin
his officer's career he fought as a soldier on the Yser. He
took part in some seven engagements, and was gazetted
second lieutenant. After several months' campaign he
was invalided out for frozen feet.
He had only been amongst us a few weeks. Everybody
knew him. Without stripes, he looked like a young con-
script of the 1915 class, though more neatly and correctly
dressed. In the evening he put on a kepi with gold stripes.
We were forced to look at it to convince ourselves that he
was a second lieutenant.
For some hours the Turks had been quiet ; their artil-
lery was silent. Suddenly on Sunday the Anatolia batteries
fired some shells. Nobody took any notice. We thought
they were firing haphazard.
Rayes, like the others, contemptuous of this noise for
nothing, remained in his dug-out. But there, by a mys-
terious chance, a shell exploded. There were cries. A ser-
geant and a man were first picked up, then men ran to the
lieutenant's dug-out.
Death had accomplished its work. Not only that, but
the youthful eyes, the laughing face, were mutilated.
IN THE TRENCHES AND AT TENEDOS 183
As daylight fell we buried our comrade in the Morto
Bay cemetery.
It was the hour of meditation ; not a gun was to be heard.
The fairy-like twilight descended gently on the Straits.
The sea was falling to sleep under a sheet of sparkling
azure. The soldiers had already regained their shelters
for the night. The lines of the distant lands were merged
in a violet mist.
The body, wrapped in tent canvas, was carried on a
stretcher. The old Colonials of the machine-gun section
walked quickly — their burden was so light.
We laid him in the grave. The Colonel spoke a few
words, but broke off quickly, for sobs were heard.
A man stepped to the edge of the hole. He was an
old and hardened " Poilu." He said " Good-bye, my little
one," in a manner we shall never forget.
We went our ways one by one, stepping carefully to
avoid other graves which had just been dug.
And so, dear one, we are silent and sad to-night.
Your devoted JOE.
CHAPTER X
SALONIKA AND SERBIA
September 2.
DEAREST,
I am probably going to Tenedos to-morrow morning
at 7 o'clock. One of my battalions (the 2nd) went there
yesterday to rest. The Colonel asked me, " Why don't you
profit by the opportunity ? " I'm going to do so.
There is little work just now, though I always find plenty
to do. This morning I went out on horseback at 7 o'clock,
and only came back at midday. I visited the dressing
stations of the ist Division, our trenches, and the Colonel's
observation post.
On passing one of our springs I discovered the sentinel,
whose business it is to guard over the inviolability of the
water, bathing in the reservoir. You have no idea what
this Turkish dust is like during a strong wind, which lasts
all day and begins again the next morning.
I return through the communication trenches during
the hottest hour of the day. They are deserted. It is
the time of the siesta — the moment to make up for a
sleepless night, during which the men at their loopholes
have kept ceaseless watch over the shadows of the enemy.
The eternal refrain of the guns has stopped. There is
a tacit agreement between the opposite camps. The most
furious fighters do not touch a grenade. It is the truce
of the sun.
I walk alone, encircled by white dust ; it is deeper at
SALONIKA AND THE VALLEY OF THK VARPAR.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 185
every step. Its whiteness is blinding. Puffs of wind raise
unbreathable clouds of dust.
The communication trench is such a complicated laby-
rinth to follow that it makes one's head whirl. I could
never have believed that this place, more animated than
a hive of bees, where one always hears an uninterrupted
flow of soldiers' talk, could fall into such absolute quiet.
The silence was quite oppressive. It was with a feeling
of satisfaction that I found myself once more on the open
road.
I continued as far as the cemetery of our division.
Some of our young soldiers were just finishing a burial.
I stopped to talk to them. They were burying two blacks
who had been killed at the loopholes during the night. They
finished their task while telling me the story.
They cut two pieces of wood from a box of biscuits,
joined them with a nail, and made crosses like all the
others in the cemetery. The names of the Senegalese were
carefully traced on the white wood.
" But perhaps these comrades are not Christian, and
would prefer the crescent to the cross."
The little French peasants had not thought of that.
The war has worked the miracle of making us all of the
same religion !
September 4.
I was not able to go to Tenedos, being needed here,
at Eski Hissarlik. It is perhaps flattering, but tiresome.
Still in war one must be surprised and impatient at nothing.
Besides, my health does not demand a rest. While quietly
preparing to pass the winter here, we indulge in chimeric
dreams about the disembarkation of Sarrail's army, the
progress of the British at Suvla, and Italo-Bulgaro-Greek
co-operation.
186 UNCENSORED LETTERS
It isn't a bad sign when soldiers are interested in so
many things. I remember that before Tsushima the
Russians wouldn't read any more papers or consult any
Havas cablegram.
This morning, after visiting my battalions I went to see
Colonel Ruef, commanding a brigade of the 2nd Division.
I stayed to lunch, and met among other officers the son
of General Ganeval, killed out here, and an embassy attache
married to a Rumanian.
If I did not ride I could not get about like this. I am
one of the few officers who still ride regularly. I am very
fond of my " Golden." He remains motionless under the
most noisy " marmite " and the most shrill " 75."
September 6.
We hear that the British are holding their own at Suvla,
after having resisted a furious attack of a new Turkish
army. Our front continues calm except last night, when
there was again a bombardment of our camps. " Mar-
mites " fell, and shrapnel covered enormous spaces. By
incredible good luck we did not have a single man
wounded.
The little shaving brush I sent you I picked up in a
Turkish camp. It is made from an empty Turkish car-
tridge— note the Turkish crescent. The Turk's flight was
so hasty that he forgot this treasure.
The clip with cartridges pierced by a bullet was given
me in the first days of May by Dr. Jubin. It is the clip
and the cartridge of the Turkish Army, for which reason
it is interesting. The way in which a bullet — doubtless
a French one — has pierced it is most curious.
The little seals come from Turkish prisoners of the
1st Division.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 187
I might have been able to send you some weapons ;
but, besides being very cumbrous, I don't think they would
be very interesting.
September 8.
This afternoon Admiral Bou£ de Lapeyrere came here.
He came by the Jules Ferry as far as Moudros (Lemnos),
and from there by the torpedo boat L'Opinidtre. The
officers with him (including an English one with whom I
talked) had not much news.
The Admiral, accompanied by General Bailloud, went
to visit the marine batteries which co-operate in the defence
of the peninsula. I took photographs, but in most un-
favourable circumstances. I don't think they will be any
good, but I will send them all the same.
From your loving HUSBAND.
September 9.
MY OWN WIFE,
It appears that delegates from our Parliament have
been here to inspect and hold an inquiry on the " Service
de SanteV' Nobody saw them except the staff.
The senators, always grave, wore white linen costumes
and helmets on which shone the crest of the Senate. The
deputies contented themselves with small black caps, but
had added to their white attire black leather gaiters.
They stopped short six kilometres away at the Sedd-el-
Bahr mills, from whence one can just see the outline of
Achi Baba. These have not been bombarded for over a
fortnight ; but when by chance a shell fell so far away that
it would not have made a soldier here turn his head, a
deputy always said, " It's hot work out here."
188 UNCENSORED LETTERS
We are getting ready for winter. I reckon on a shelter
made of armoured plates beside the sea, on Morto Bay,
which really begins to belong to us.
September 12.
Here it is still quiet, a prodigious extraordinary quiet,
which makes us anxious in the absolute penury of
news.
Yesterday there were hardly two or three shells from
the Asiatic coast. Unfortunately one fell right in the
hut of our head doctor of the divisional stretcher-bearers.
It isn't far from here. The doctor was not killed but
seriously wounded.
We hear that the Turks only dispose of some 1,000 shells
per day. They keep them for the northern front (Suvla).
During the last fortnight clouds have gathered thicker
and thicker over this Gallipoli sky. Rain is threatening.
What will become of us ? We shall be able to sail boats
in the trenches !
I spent the morning going round the trenches. It is
11.30. I am going to lunch with a friend at Peret's Post.
It rained in the night. The dust was laid, but it is queer
to feel the approach of the bad season of winter and of the
cold. The pure sky of the Chersonese is now a wicked
grey, which doesn't become it at all.
To-morrow will begin the construction of my winter
shelter on Morto Bay. If the sea rose we should be
swamped in the old one, so I suggested placing the shell-
proofs on quite a high spot.
September 13.
The Turks have taken advantage of this period of quiet
to lay mines. The 56th Regiment (formerly the 6th
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 189
Colonial) has discovered one which already passes under
our lines. There is no need to put one's ear to the ground
to hear the sound of picks.
It appears to be about two metres deep. The mine was
discovered during the night, and the necessary measures
were immediately taken. Men and material were removed.
The artillery had a " 65 " gun there, and they were not
long in changing its site.
At daybreak everybody went to listen to the picks :
General Bailloud, colonels, majors, men. A new sensa-
tion, but a rather disagreeable one ! A fresh method of
warfare has now begun for us.
General Gouraud had feared it, but did not wish to be
the first to begin. His successors were of the same mind.
But now that the Turks had challenged us we must answer
them. Time presses.
At first it was a question of reciprocating by means of
" camouflets " — that is to say, laying the sap open after
blowing up the retaining wall with dynamite. I think
the counter-mine has been adopted.
Yesterday afternoon Armanet's medical post sustained
a regular bombardment. It is our principal shelter for
wounded at the entrance of the central communication
trench.
There are always gatherings there, which draw the
enemy's fire on this point. The post has just been trans-
formed. It was covered with tent material, but now
sheets of corrugated iron make it a comfortable dwelling,
doubtless sheltered from shrapnel. It is also to be covered
with earth to a thickness of four or five feet to protect it
from shells.
Armanet's post is occupied by the 56th Colonial and
the 1 75th Infantry of the Line. About 5 o'clock huge
" 210 " shells were fired from Chanak. One fell exactly on
190 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the bank at the entrance to the central communication
trench. A grey donkey was killed outright. Ten or
twelve shells followed.
This is a lot for the quiet time we are enjoying. It is
true that our artillery has been very active to-day, and that
a battery of " 75*8 " has been established near Armanet's
post. All these shells burst except one, which lies on the
road a few yards in front of the entrance to the communica-
tion trench.
One shell fell on the corrugated iron roof of the medical
shelter, slightly towards the west, and exploded in the hut
occupied by the i/5th. Two doctors and five European
orderlies live there. The three other huts are occupied by
the 56th. A prodigious noise was heard; the hut was
smashed to atoms. Immediately afterwards a shell burst
on the ground a yard in front of the spot where the first
one hit.
In spite of danger the doctors and orderlies of the 56th
Colonial hastened to help their comrades. A terrifying
spectacle. The hut of the i/5th was laid open at the top.
The armoured plates had been split and pushed in like a
sheet of paper ; and the shell, continuing its course, had
hollowed out in the sides and the ground a crater around
which everything has been annihilated.
Dr. Crussi was extracted from a pool of blood. Assis-
tant Dr. Galineaud was also drawn out of the ruins. He had
a broken leg. One unfortunate orderly was in agony,
horribly wounded. The four others had been cut to
pieces. I thought our days of peace would not be long
in this hell upon earth. Sometimes I do grow so weary
of its interminable hopelessness.
But these are only passing moods of
Your JOE.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 191
September 15.
DEAR GIRL,
Something fresh must have happened. Some sailors
saw to-night an important string of boats making for the
Gulf of Saros.
People's brains here get quite dulled, mine like the others.
This morning I spoke to a sergeant, who with twelve men
had been placed in charge of the underground springs of
Vermesch Fountain for some twenty-four hours. I said
to him, " Sergeant, what is that ? " and pointed to the
reservoirs. He answered, " That — those are explosives."
Many men are like creatures deprived of reason. If
you think I am getting like that I must be invalided home.
Men are naturally stupid, and when they are at war and
have not a single woman to inspire them they become
idiotic.
The Turkish mines under our lines are worked regularly
and continually; but we have begun counter-mines, and
shall doubtless be ready before them. The English blew
up a mine last night and many Turks with it.
This morning we got up in the rain and mud. This
clay soil sticks to everything. I had sand put down all
round the dressing station. Now the sun shines out
again.
I don't know whether my enthusiasm has cooled, or
whether our troops display fewer virtues in inaction. But
many ugly things crop up such as one sees in peace time.
To-day an order came that lists of all officers and men
who were on the peninsula before May 8 should be made
out. It will be quickly done for my regiment. There
are very few of us left. For what object are these lists ?
Some think it is for giving us a few days' leave, like those
of the French front.
You are right in saying that we are uninteresting since
192 UNCENSORED LETTERS
the Suvla landing. A new period is beginning for us.
We are no longer the principal front against the Turks.
We know nothing whatever. I learn from the London
and Paris papers what is happening but a few miles away.
September 18, 8 a.m.
A piece of good news ! We are to have six days' leave
in France — all those who have been out here five months
in the French Expeditionary Force. We do not know
the date yet, but it will be soon. So don't hurry back to
England, but await me on the Continent.
I understand from the staff that one officer and ten men
will get leave at a time. It is very few. If I am in the first
batch I shall selfishly think it enough.
September 18, 8 p.m.
Extract from report of the i8th : " The units will make
known the names, rank and register of the soldiers who
have served in the Oriental Expeditionary Force for at
least five months without interruption. These lists will
indicate the locality in which these soldiers desire to spend
their leave. . . . The length of leave will be six days,
journey not included, to the place of destination. The
journey will be free."
Now it is said that the Service de Sante has asked for
this leave to be extended to fifteen days. That is all we
know.
September 21.
On the 1 8th a German aviatik, marked with an Iron
Cross, came over our lines in the morning. Yesterday
another, armoured and armed with a machine-gun, came
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 193
into our landscape. It let fall four or five bombs which
burst near here.
Yesterday an enemy submarine showed the top of
its periscope near Sedd-el-Bahr. A rain of shells came
immediately. I wish I could report that they sank it.
Alas, I fear not ! Your devoted HUSBAND.
September 22.
A few days ago I conducted the British Brigade-General
H. C. Casson, i5/7th Brigade, around my Eski Hissarlick
dressing station and the former position of De Tott's
Battery. The General wished to revisit this corner of
Gallipoli, which he conquered on April 25, and see the
graves of the soldiers who have been killed at his
side.
He was touched with the care that had been given by
the French to the English graves. Overlooking the incom-
parable panorama of the Straits are the graves of Major
C. E. Margesson and his orderly. He told me what had
happened on April 25 and how the Major was killed. I
am going to have a stone placed on his grave and write to
his widow.
The General gave me some information about the Suvla
landing. The Turks had been warned, and were awaiting
the English with heavy artillery, which did much damage.
It is said that strong reinforcements are arriving, and that
a solution will be reached at any cost.
Am I calmer, dearest little wife ? I think so. ... I
have forgotten my impatience in the struggle I wage
against dirt and vermin. I pry everywhere for the enemy
— disease-breeding filth. What do I discover ? Again
this morning ! ! !
The others content themselves with enacting astounding
194 UNCENSORED LETTERS
measures on paper. I try loyally to put them into prac-
tice. It is much more difficult. The prevailing indifference
is as strong as the dirtiness !
The weather is superb but cooler. How will the blacks
stand it ? They will be taken back to Nice for the winter.
Lucky blacks ! Your devoted HUSBAND.
September 28.
MY OWN,
We have received the news that the French front is
advancing and driving back the Germans. You cannot
imagine our superhuman joy and our immense sympathy
with those who are fighting in our native land.
Yesterday evening at 7 o'clock, when it was dark and
everything seemed quiet, we heard a great clamour.
Bayonet attack ? No, hardly that. Panic ? It was
not the right sort of noise. What then ?
A few minutes later cannonade of all calibres from every
hill and ravine. The Turks reply from Achi Baba and
from the Asiatic coast. The firing increases until it
reminds us of past great days. Little by little it quiets
down.
At 9 o'clock I hear that General Sir Ian Hamilton had
ordered salvos to be fired in honour of the French and
English victories in France. Probably the Turks did not
sleep much last night.
No more is said of leaves being granted. They are
probably postponed. Patience.
Just a few soldiers here and there have got leave ; but
they are not numerous. I think you are waiting in France,
at Paris. If I get leave you will be there. Anyhow,
even if I don't, it is worth while living in Paris in these
tremendous days.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 195
I have the " Croix de Guerre." You did not know ?
I am pleased to tell you that I am proposed for officer of
the Legion of Honour. My Brigade-General Fourcade
sent for me this morning and told me that he had
recommended it very strongly.
It seems that I have a good chance of getting it ; but
between Cape Helles and the Ministry is many a slip.
There are two distinct propositions — the rank and the
rosette.
You have at last learnt that I was ill. It was a long
time ago in June. It was never anything serious. I was
determined not to be sent away and to keep going all the
same. I didn't want to alarm you unnecessarily.
Once I was ordered to go into hospital. I refused, and
now I have acquired a sort of immunity.
Every single one of us has been more or less severely
attacked by enteric. Some went into hospital, then to
France ; others stayed at their posts. I promise you that
if I succumb again I will ask to go. But you will soon see
for yourself that I don't look too bad.
I am always very abstemious, and very careful about
hygiene. For instance, I never miss my daily hot bath.
Thus I have never been troubled with vermin, though
scarcely anyone has escaped.
We hear that General Sarrail's army has landed, but
where ? . . . Mystery !
All my old servants have gone — all the whites. To-day
two corporals and my cyclist.
I have had to replace my faithful Clerc, who looked after
my horses so perfectly, by a Senegalese, Birama Kandi,
the handsomest man of all the blacks (according to Alex-
andrian ladies). The former has typhoid, and I must send
him to France.
Yesterday Birama Kandi brought round the two horses
196 UNCENSORED LETTERS
at 6 o'clock as usual. I mount " Golden " and we start
for the olive wood. Suddenly he begins to prance, and
then stops dead. By persuasion and then beating I
advance another 100 yards, but he begins to kick and
tries to throw me.
I dismount and blame Birama Kandi for " Golden's "
caprices : " You've ill-treated him in the stable." Birama
swears by all his gods that he has never ill-treated " horse,
doctor."
I had forgotten the incident and was waiting to go out
riding this morning when Birama arrived on foot and
handed me a Turkish bullet. " Look, that in him, the
horse." The Senegalese in grooming " Golden " had found
a sensitive spot. On pressing the wound, he easily
extracted the bullet.
" Golden " had been hit by this bullet while passing,
saddled, bridled and mounted, through the always
dangerous Vermesch Fountain Ravine.
October I.
It is certain that a French division is leaving the Galli-
poli Peninsula. We (the French) will only remain one
division here — four Colonial mixed regiments. Naturally
the English remain here with us. We do not know where
this division is going, but we suppose it is Salonika.
The hospital ship Charles Roux (the one you wanted to
come out on) has already left our coast. It has gone for
repairs (?) to Salonika. Do not have any regret, by-the-by,
about the Charles Roux. I am told (by friends who wished
to catch a glimpse of feminine faces again) that there are
only women who have reached a canonical age — over
forty-five years. Poor wounded !
I open the brackets again in order to beg you to note
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 197
that since April I have not seen a single woman. Tenedos
does not count.
We had bad weather for two or three days, but now it
is very fine and settled. My hut is being prepared for the
winter. I shall have a shelter of corrugated metal plates
covered with ashlar and earth. It is 25 to 30 metres to
the north-east of the one I am in now. It is at the prettiest
spot of our domain.
October 3.
On October i, at 6 p.m., I received an order to embark
my two ambulances the same evening. I did not
understand. Then I found another little paper under-
neath. It was my nomination as " Directeur du Service
de Sant6 de la zieme Division." I went to headquarters
immediately.
I was informed of the situation without being told the
destination. Taken unawares, I was obliged, though it
was already dark, to ascertain for myself that the embarka-
tion orders had been carried out. What a movement
in Sedd-el-Bahr, what interminable lines of troops,
carriages, cases ! But all was working smoothly and in
praiseworthy silence.
My return journey seemed unending. I had not my
horse, and was obliged to go on foot with a guide who did
not know the road. I fell into an old " marmite " hole,
and clambered out with difficulty, only to fall again into
an abandoned trench or a dirty ditch. I was tired out.
For the first time I thought that we had conquered too
much country !
We went on and on. Shrapnel began to fall ; and my
secretary, who had never been out so late nor so far, was
scandalised at the Turks' audacity in shooting so freely. I
198 UNCENSORED LETTERS
dined that evening at 10 o'clock, and went to sleep without
delay.
Yesterday was a very busy day — postcards, good-byes,
papers. I am replacing a head doctor of the Reserve with five
stripes, who is very plucky but old. There is a good deal of
work, and great responsibility. I can work, for I am very
well. I know the responsibilities, and do not fear
them.
I am on the staff of General Bailloud. We may embark
at any moment — probably during the night for an un-
known destination. Everybody knows that we are going
to help Serbia, consolidate Greece, and try to stop Bulgaria.
Afterwards we shall intercept the Austro-Germans on the
Orsova-Constantinople road. It is a vast programme.
I shall be well placed for seeing the last phase of the great
drama which is being played in the East.
On the staff there is first General Bailloud, who is always
gay, and in good spirits. His chief of staff is Colonel
Marty. The assistant, Major Romieux (no relation of
the commandant killed on July 12), knows Greece well
and speaks the language perfectly, and is very learned
and charming. There is a Sub-lieutenant Herriot, a
good aviator, who has a yacht in France and a
mint of money. There is Captain Mirville, of the
Colonial Infantry, etc., etc.; I shall know them better
by degrees.
As to the material conditions of life, it is the end of my
miseries. You know that I have lived till now like a
private, and in an absolutely simple and abstemious
way.
To give you an idea of our present comfort, we only
drink Evian or Vichy water at meals. We have a very
good cook. I was at once given a dug-out 7 metres by 2
— a veritable palace !
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 199
As I have not been told the " secret," I may mention
that we shall land at Salonika.
From your busy but happy HUSBAND.
MOUDROS, October 5.
DEAR WIFE,
We left Sedd-el-Bahr yesterday at 2. We have left
behind the River Clyde, the Chateau d'Europe, and the
corner of the earth where we lived through such prodigious
hours. At 7 to-day we arrived at Moudros. We leave
for Salonika at 2 this afternoon.
HOTEL CONTINENTAL, SALONIKA, October 7.
We landed yesterday morning at Salonika, not without
some surprises at sea. The reception of the populace here
was cold but correct. We are camping at Zeitenlick, about
two and a half miles away from the town.
Our tents will probably be ready this evening, but I prefer
to sleep at the Hotel Continental. A bed seems to me the
last refinement of civilisation. To-morrow morning one
of our regiments leaves for Uskub, and we shall follow
them shortly.
The situation is very confused. First and foremost we
must go to the help of Serbia, even if Greece stays out.
We shall have against us Austrians, Germans, and Bul-
garians. There will be plenty of work for us.
We have been little feted here. It is not a question of
being feted, but you know how eloquent the Greeks are, and
there were neither speeches nor any sort of manifestation.
To be thus thrown over is painful.
Salonika is a remarkable town. I will describe it later.
The weather is warm. It will be very different in Serbia.
We shall be given sheepskins.
200 UNCENSORED LETTERS
October 9.
This morning it is raining — weather dark and depress-
ing. I saw yesterday some French doctors and Red Cross
nurses belonging to the Serbian mission, who have just
returned to Salonika. Our task will be hard in the struggle
against vermin and typhoid. Further, we shall be alone
to resist an Austro-German army.
We shall see what will happen. Serbia is a country of
surprises — generally disagreeable ones ! We hear that
the Serbian army is still courageous and entirely re-
equipped.
The attitude of the Balkans is a bitter disappointment.
Here the situation is very awkward for us in the midst of
a Greek army mobilised, which takes up all the available
space, and hinders all our movements.
The short voyage from Lemnos to Salonika was a veri-
table Odyssey. The first boats had to return to their
starting point without landing their troops.
I have bought clothes fit for the rigorous Serbian winter.
I think I have everything I need.
I am obliged to share my room with another doctor
coming from Serbia. There is so little room here.
October 10.
I must send you some description of this place. The
voyage went off all right, but we had to guard not only
against Turco-Boche submarines, but also against mines
kindly sent forth to meet us by the Greeks. Our boats
followed one another in single file, destroyers on either
side.
On entering Salonika port we had a good view of the
town. To the left Mount Hella and Mount Ossa, which
the ancient Greeks considered so high. They were sur-
rounded yesterday by huge clouds.
A -HKI I. PROOF DRESSING STATION AT SEDD EI.-BAHR.
1U
HYCIENK WORK BEING « ARKIED OUT BY THK sKRVICE I)E SANTE
AT C.ALLU'OLI.
VALLEY OF THE VARDAR. THE RAILWAY TO THE NORTH OF
STRUMNITZA STATION.
THE VARDAR, NEAR GRADE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE NORTH.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 201
Farther away on the same side stretched out the immense
plain of the Vardar — swampy and unhealthy. To the right
a row of artillery buildings with red roofs, and in the centre
of the curve villas surrounded by gardens of flowers. It
was in one of the prettiest that Abdul Hamid was interned.
There are mountains in the distance. The town is built
on the first slopes dominating the bay.
October 15.
You understand the peculiar conditions under which
we are here. We shall go to meet the Bulgarians shortly,
whom the Allied troops have already punished.
Salonika is very picturesque, but crowded with soldiers.
I am sorry I cannot describe it more fully to you, but I
have little time for writing. There is a great deal of work
and much responsibility.
Things are working out all right. I have lost much
time at the dentist's. There are very few motors and no
telephone. As I have to be here, there, and everywhere,
I am wearing out my horses. They are splendid, and grip
these badly-paved roads well.
I have brought Korka with me, and also my other black
servant, Birama. They serve me pretty well.
October 18.
We leave Salonika this evening for Serbia ! I suppose
this is no longer a secret. I am quite ready for the new
campaign both as regards health and spirits. Even my
throat is quite all right.
We have been here twelve days. Yet it still seems
strange not to hear the cannonade and to be safe from the
projectiles which always threatened us in Gallipoli.
202 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I have slept several times in a real bed, but more often
in my camp-bed under a dripping tent. The first few days
it was fine, but lately it has been raining.
Salonika is a very original town. It is a continual
display of epic and sumptuous scenes full of charming
details. There are a great many little winding streets
which seem to have no issue. Spying eyes are fixed on us
from every corner.
The ancient town has Byzantine temples, mosques,
basilicas, remarkable pictures, Turkish cemeteries. The
modern town has good hotels, a nice tea place, cinemas,
and jetties, against which many old and picturesque sailing
boats are moored.
I like my new service ; it is very interesting, but absorbs
nearly all my time. Your loving JOE.
October 19.
DEAR ONE,
Yesterday we received orders to take the 8 o'clock train
at the military station of Salonika to go to Strumnitza
during the night. I had been to the cinema in the afternoon
with friends, and I did not hurry to say good-bye, as the
station I had often seen was in the centre of the town.
A carriage carried me rapidly to a station filled with
Greek soldiers, and I saw at once that there were no French-
men there. " Where is the real station ? " I asked every-
body. I was losing time.
At last I reached a suburban station. Not a single
soldier. I find a Frenchman who tells me I am nearly
a mile from the right station, and that if I do not want to
miss the train I must hurry. I was in a great state.
At last, just at 8 o'clock, the horses, beaten even more
than usual, exhausted and lame, stopped far out in the
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 203
country before a station lighted by big electric globes. Is
this where my train is ? Anxious moment. Nobody knows.
Finally I find out that the train which should have
started at 6 is leaving at 10 p.m., and the 8 o'clock not
until the next morning. There is a great crowd of men,
horses, carriages, gun-carriages, cases, motor cars. I
ascertain that the Service de Sante waggons are on the
train, and that my horses, " Merle " and " Golden," are
safely installed with Birama (my Senegalese groom). It
is raining ; one's feet stick in the filthy mud.
About 10 o'clock I settle down in a horse waggon that
I find in a corner of the station. Korka goes to hunt for
straw. I try it. It is soft and warm, in full fermentation.
I lay a rug on the top and dinner is served — tinned fish,
cold beef, condensed milk. Other officers join me. The
waggon becomes a dormitory. Soon there are snores. I
sleep very well.
We left at about 7 this morning — weather dark, but no
rain. First one passes through the plains of the Vardar
delta — low-lying swamps, covered with reeds and water
plants. Then the country becomes mountainous.
The Vardar, deep, muddy, and not at all broad, empty
of all boats and rafts, winds slowly between rough and
bare hills. We were soon at the Serbian frontier.
Soldiers in bad khaki overcoats and civilians guard the
line. Their guns are slung over their shoulders with pieces
of string. All the same, they are clean and in good con-
dition.
At another station a little farther on we were right in
Serbian territory. Here there were soldiers of the Regular
Army and officers with their very original head-dress,
which is a mixture of a police helmet and a tiara. The
inhabitants have put up a few Allied flags. Among them
we distinguish the Union Jack.
204 UNCENSORED LETTERS
It appears that the first arrivals have been cheered and
feted. The population, though reserved and not speaking
our language, seems sympathetic. There seems to be
great poverty ; the houses are for the most part built of
mud.
October 21.
I am in my tent at Strumnitza Station, which is built
not far from the bridge on a spur made by the railway line.
I am already used to the noise of the trains. But the rain,
the mud, the filth ! ! !
When the clouds are not too low and it is not raining too
hard, I like the scenery. It is severe, beautiful, and sad.
Mythical goddesses, nymphs, and fauns would never
be tempted to wander among these mountainous defiles,
too perilous and too damp. Luminous enchantments of
Gallipoli, where are you ?
Here it is the country of war par excellence, the battle-
field of people haunted by the desire to kill and to plunder.
I rode out this morning to the regiments on the right
wing, which are occupying villages bordering on the
inundated valleys. About n o'clock, after some glorious
long gallops, we found ourselves at Cestovo.
Colonel Benoit insisted on our staying for luncheon.
We had plenty of food with us. But though they were
only in this deserted village since the evening before,
they were provided with a varied menu.
We lunched in a mosque, quite picturesque, but very
poor. Hardly had we sat down when rifle firing began.
Nobody took any notice. Then the guns started. From
the little window we could distinguish the white puffs of
bursting shells.
The village of Valandovo, on the other slope of the
mountain, on the Bulgarian side of the valley, was being
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 205
attacked. It is there that we have a battalion commanded
by Captain de Gennont Tonerre. The guns answered
back. We left the mosque and followed the whole
action with our field-glasses.
The snapping of the rifle fire and the thunder of the guns
continued, but this did not prevent me from going on to
Dedeli to inspect the other medical posts there. Later from
the top of a slope all we could see of the pretty village of
Valandovo was through a cloud of powder and smoke.
We were told that we could not return by the same
road without risking bullets and shrapnel. This gave us
the opportunity, without losing sight of the operations,
of going back by covered paths under beautiful beech trees
which opened upon a whole world of refugees, some driv-
ing in front of them sheep, cattle, goats, or horses. Poor
people !
No sight can be sadder. All the horror of war is in these
groups. One woman, enceinte, bare-footed, is driving along
in front of her a thin goat and a cow, and in her arms is a
hungry child. We return safely.
And I sit down to send these disjointed descriptions to
her whom I love and oh ! so long to see again. T
October 26.
DEAR WIFE,
Since the igth we have established ourselves on the
railway line, Salonika-Uskub, at a point which is called
Strumnitza Station, but which is some 20 kilometres
away from the Bulgarian town of Strumnitza.
There is a bridge over the Vardar here which the Bul-
garians have already tried to capture from us. We gave
them a terrible lesson. There are troops holding the moun-
tain above us, and firing is frequent.
206 UNCENSORED LETTERS.
As I told you in my last letter from Salonika, the order
for departure for the Serbian front was given us early in
the morning of October 18. We were to take a train at
8 p.m. the same evening.
Our wet tents were rolled up in the pouring rain. The
garden of the Zeitenlick Seminary, where I had slept
several nights, was under water, and the flowers, bent and
draggled, gave out no scent. Our soaked linen and clothes
were pressed into our military tin trunks.
When all arrangements had been made and the baggage
hoisted on the carts, I went to pay some good-bye calls to
my Salonika friends. I had been received by a sympa-
thetic and distinguished family.
For a few hours I found myself again in feminine com-
pany and surrounded by the little attentions of which I
had been deprived so long. We passed the afternoon at
the cinema. It was again scenes of murder and of war,
heartrending good-byes and broken hearts. . . .
When we arrived at Strumnitza it was pouring. Nobody
to receive us. However, my tent had been set up in an
orchard under the trees and in the midst of a pool of black
smelly mud. I guessed there were pigs near by from the
noise and smell. All night there was a fearful noise from
the trains which were carrying Serbian troops towards the
north.
On the morning of the 2Oth I had to explore the village
in the rain. It is in a basin between mountains. The
Vardar and the railway line pass by the defile. One is
dominated by the hills on either side, but one cannot see
them because of the heavy rain. It is all so new to me.
Nowhere in the world have I seen such depths of filth.
The houses are left half-deserted. The peasants have
given up their places on their torn cotton mattresses to the
Serbian Territorials. Here and there we find our own
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 207
soldiers, worn out, wet through, who are resting their
tired limbs.
Everywhere there are dogs, dirty clothes, torn bed
coverlets. Sometimes I see ill people forgotten in a corner
shivering with fever. Is it the dread typhus ?
In the courtyards cattle and pigs are being slaughtered.
What shelters ! What dwellings ! And outside the rain
continues, black mud, and swamps. . . .
Finally I discovered a building which would serve for
an ambulance. I immediately decided to have it bathed
in cresyl and whitewashed. I have settled to give the use
of the ruined town-hall to the stretcher-bearer corps.
I had my tent brought me at once and put it up beside
the ambulance. It is on a flat piece of ground, two or
three metres high, running alongside the railway line. It
is certainly rather exposed to the enemy's fire if they
attacked the bridge, but I could not have everything. I
slept in my tent. It rained all night as it had rained all day.
In the evening of October 21 we heard that Rabrovo had
been taken by our troops. The wounded arrived during
the night. I slept in my tent again under a heavy rain,
and woke up on the 22nd to find firing going on and bullets
falling around us.
Again we heard the whistling with which we had become
so familiar in Gallipoli. I had ordered my horse, meaning
to explore certain springs, but it was precisely there that
the Bulgarians were firing, so I had to give up my
intention.
I rode over the whole camp. Soldiers were leaving in
the rain to take up a position in the hills. Rifles and
machine-guns were firing from the heights.
I stopped to look at a Serbian cemetery. There were
200 newly-made graves in a line, and all alike. They were
the graves of some Serbian wounded whom the Bulgarians
208 UNCENSORED LETTERS
had massacred one night. At a time like this one is im-
pressed with the barbarity that such an act signifies.
My ambulances did not seem to me safe from bullets.
I explored a fresh site on the other side of the Vardar.
The bridge was very high and 80 metres long. We had
to cross on very bad planks, and there was no railing. The
river was flowing very swiftly and making whirlpools.
You can imagine how giddy I was ! A comrade had to
give me his arm !
The bullets were whistling. I came back at I o'clock,
having terminated my mission. The staff did not share
my opinion about changing the site of my ambulances,
which, however, can be ready to move in less than an
hour as the cases are not yet unpacked.
Hardly had we crossed the bridge when shells burst
above it. If we had been five minutes later we should
have experienced rather a shock. Our " 75 " batteries
answered back. The formidable echoes surprised even
our war-hardened soldiers.
The struggle soon became serious. We were attacked
by strong forces. Our guns increased their salvos.
Wounded arrived from everywhere. We heard that a
major and several officers have been killed. The situation
is grave.
But I must stop. It is owing to the rain, which prevented
me from going to the front lines, that you get this letter.
Otherwise, I am always out or in the midst of reports,
letters, papers, which my high (!) functions now entail.
We are an isolated division. That is why I have the
title of " Directeur." Even the expenses come under my
supervision. The day before yesterday I asked the pay-
master for 5o,ooof.
As to the hygiene of the troops, that work will be pro-
digious ; all must be created. But I am well seconded,
THE CENTRAL AND ONLY STREET AT STRU.MNIT7.A STATION.
A SERBIAN CEMETERY NEAR STRt'MNITZV STATION'. TWO
HUNDRED WOUNDED SERBIANS WERE BUTCHERED BY THE
BULGARS ONE NIGHT.
THE DOCTORS ROOM AT STRUMNMZA STATION.
PUTTING DOWN A CASUALTY AT NO. 4 DRESSING STATION
AT STRUMNITZA.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 209
and I know what I want. We have already had to treat
and attend 200 wounded besides the cases of illness. I get
about always on horseback. Yesterday I did about 50
kilometres. He keeps quite well, does Your TOE.
STRUMNITZA STATION, October 31.
DEAREST WIFE,
I received to-day your letters of I5th, i6th and I7th.
The band of the 2nd Regiment de Marche d'Afrique is
playing delicious airs from the " Mascotte " — those that
you like ; also some waltzes. ... It is Sunday. This music
was bought a few minutes before we started, from the
Catholic fathers of Zeitenlick. It is not even raining. . . .
I already seem to see you at Salonika. . . . Do you
think it wise and prudent to come so far, where I could
not perhaps even see you though it is so near ?
Could you not wait till events have taken a less uncer-
tain turn ? I do not know whether you realise the exact
situation. Nothing is less clear.
And Salonika ? Will it not be there that a decisive
battle will be fought even if the Greeks remain neutral to
the end ? Also I am afraid there is nothing to be done
to make it safe or reasonable for you to come.
I made the acquaintance at Salonika of a very nice
family. Mr. X. is a man of good education and well
connected. He is married to a Syrian. The sister lives
with them and also the grandparents. They are very kind
and hospitable. Would you like to live with them ?
They do not eat like you — very strange dishes. They
would be glad to have you, but . . . you know there are
no hotels. The English and French have hired them at
exorbitant prices for hospitals, offices, and so on. The
town is crowded with soldiers, who are high spirited and
cheeky.
210 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I also know Mrs. D., of the Red Cross at Salonika. But
she has taken in a dozen officers and has no more room.
You know you could not live here officially as my wife, and
would have to remain incognito. And if the situation
became dangerous or if you were taken for a spy ! ! Do
not double our war chances.
My two Senegalese servants, Korka and Birama, are
already ill. It is not very cold, but the damp ! ! I have
much less time for writing now. If you knew all I get
through in a day ! . . . But when I write to you, dearest,
my pen sings to the music of the band, which seems always
to play while these letters are being written. Your TOE
November z.
DEAREST ONE,
I have just received a splendid packet of letters and
papers, for most of which I am indebted to you.
I don't know what to say about your project of coming
to Salonika. Although it never does to be astonished in
a period as extraordinary as this one, I have not yet
recovered from my astonishment. Perhaps I did not give
you my opinion categorically enough. Or am I allowed
to have an opinion ?
Suppose, dear wife, that while you were coming to
Salonika I should be going to Marseilles. For that is
quite possible. I should only have to be wounded or to
go down with some illness.
One of us is already exposed. That is necessary. But
why two of us ? You are now getting on so well. Marie
writes me that you are like a very young girl ; and that
you are ravishingly fresh and pink.
Salonika is a large city, with the conditions peculiar to
war and a state of siege. The English are furious with the
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 211
Greeks, and are interfering with the shipment of their
provisions. People stand in line at the doors of the bakers'
shops to obtain a small ration of bread.
I put your safety always before my own, but evidently
you will not have it so. You only wish me to say " Do
whatever you like, dearest." Do reflect, and don't come
to a conclusion too hastily.
Yesterday I sent you four films taken under better con-
ditions, with an ideal light. It was the first very fine day
we have had. Not a cloud. The sky infinitely blue.
The green mountains seem no longer the same. All the
gloomy tints have disappeared. They smile. They show
themselves in all the details of their beauty. It is like
spring-time coming from afar.
During the afternoon cannons have thundered from the
north at Krivolak. To-morrow we shall occupy certain
points on the road to Strumnitza. But you will learn
all about that much earlier from the London papers.
We are going to have some motor cars for our hospital
service. To-day a battery of motor machine-guns has
arrived.
Read a French book upon Salonika called " La Ville
Convoitee." Ask for it at Hachette's.
I finish my letter while the regimental band plays. One
can no longer hear the cannon above it.
Au revoir, dear wife, whom I love always more and
more- Your JOE.
STRUMNITZA STATION, November 3.
MY DEAR WIFE,
It was like a warm day in spring this morning at
Strumnitza Station. Quite early the mountains were
212 UNCENSORED LETTERS
bathed in sunshine. The firing of guns came quickly to
remind us that we were at war.
The prearranged attack on the passes of the Strumnitza
road was beginning.
When all the details of my service had been arranged
I left on horseback with Birama. All along the road we
met convoys of munitions and of food stores, a few soldiers
riding, and finally some of our wounded.
The first wounded who arrive are generally the less
serious cases. Though they had limbs or their heads
bound up in white bandages, they looked very cheerful.
In the limpid atmosphere the mountains revealed them-
selves in all their exquisite details ; even the highest peaks
were free from clouds.
I went to Valandovo, where I had established my No. 3
dressing station. Before I arrived there the rifle fire was
quite distinct — the guns were only firing intermittently.
We arrived at the village by a road bordered with big
beech trees.
From afar we could distinguish the houses standing out
One by one against the green of the lower slopes of the
mountain. One could see the slender minaret of the
mosque and the heavier steeple of the church. In the
orchards and fields round the houses under the mulberry
trees there was a medley of soldiers, horses, carriages, and
a few motor machine-guns which have arrived from
Salonika this very morning.
I conferred at once with the staff, whom I found in one
of the Valandovo streets. General Bailloud is in a motor
further on. Dressing station No. 3 is in full activity. The
mosque is filled with wounded. They have been attended
to, and are lying on a thick layer of good French hay,
which smells delicious.
" You need nothing, my children ? "
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 213
" We are quite all right, quite happy — only hungry."
I saw to that at once.
The mosque there is big and spacious. It is not a
palace, but it is capable of sheltering a quantity of our
brave fellows.
They were dead tired. They have had to climb with the
utmost rapidity peaks of 350 metres and more.
In the courtyard there was a great crowd of wounded
who had not yet been treated. They were full length on
the bare ground, or lying on stretchers, or standing in
every sort of pose. All kinds of men and all degrees of
suffering !
The operation-room was besieged. Inside doctors,
dripping with perspiration, covered with blood, tired out,
were working away without losing a minute.
Carts had been brought into one of the courtyards of the
mosque. They were so numerous, they filled it. They
are our means of transport for our wounded. The only
other vehicle is the motor car belonging to the armoured
cars. The contrast is striking.
These carts are the ordinary Serbian carts, low-swung,
of very rough wood and badly joined together. They are
drawn by a pair of oxen, ridiculously small, whose thick
rough hide seems to clothe all the inhabitants of the
country. In French histories one sees these carts in the
chapter about the " Rois faineants."
Therefore some wounded take thirty to forty minutes
to reach the station, while others take three to four hours.
But all will arrive to-night at the Ghevgeli hospital. We
shall have done pretty well, considering the chance means
at our disposal. We are expecting motor ambulances very
soon.
When the number of wounded was at its greatest at the
mosque some Bulgarian shells fell less than 100 metres
214 UNCENSORED LETTERS
away. The enemy was above us, and only two kilometres
distant.
I returned to Strumnitza Station as darkness fell.
The car attached to the machine-gun motors brought
in during the evening three soldiers seriously wounded,
who had not passed by the Valandovo dressing station.
The chauffeurs told me about the fate of the machine-
gun cars. The General had sent them two kilometres in
advance on a very bad road. At a certain place they had
to slacken down. The Bulgarians rushed out on either
side like devils and tried to capture them. They could
not turn, and had to fly, going backwards.
One of them missed the road in the darkness, and dashed
into a ditch. Terrible struggle ; finally one car continued.
The one which stuck in the mud is in the hands of the
Bulgarians, as well as a lieutenant and several men. It
is believed they were killed while still trying to disengage
their car.
It appears that Uskub has been recaptured by the
Serbians, with great loss to the Bulgarians, but that,
in the north, the principal arsenal has fallen into the hands
of the Germans.
I am worn out, but never too tired to write to you, my
dear one. Your JOE.
November 5, 5 p.m.
DEAR WIFE,
I have just returned on horseback from the lines where
the fighting is going on and from a visit to my dressing
station. The actual warfare here differs totally from that
of Gallipoli. We have a very extended front, mountains
opposite us which we must cross, many defiles which must
be guarded, summits on which we must establish ourselves.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 215
Thus there is movement everywhere, and it is not easy to
pick up our wounded or to transport them.
All the same, people find we have worked miracles.
From the Valandovo dressing station to Strumnitza it is
14 kilometres by auto. But we have no autos yet for the
Service de Sante. The car attached to the machine-gun
motors was put at our disposal again to-day, but only did
three journeys. It is much too heavy, and the little
chauffeur did not much like this change of routine.
This country, which appeared so abominable at first,
now takes on a spring-like freshness and grace. We
arrived in such horrible and cold weather, and it did not
stop raining day or night.
We camped in a dirty village at the bottom of a narrow
defile. The filth in the streets reached unknown depths.
Added to all that, it was a precarious occupation — rifle
fire all day and sometimes gunfire.
In the pouring rain our men guarded the trenches
stoically. They could not sleep, they had not enough to
eat till the supplies became regulated, men wounded and
ill were to be found everywhere.
The sun has come out and all has changed. Who would
have thought that this rough country had smiles in reserve
for us ? Is it the same place ? The most distant horizons
are perfectly clear. The play of light and shade reminds
us of Greece, which is so close.
The echoes of gunfire reverberate unceasingly towards
Krivolak.
November 7.
I now have a white servant as well as the two blacks.
He works a thousand times better than Korka, and looks
after me well. With three I ought to get along all right !
216 UNCENSORED LETTERS
My horse " Golden " is marvellous. After 50 kilo-
metres (31^ miles) in mud and marsh he is as ardent as
ever.
Since yesterday I have five splendid quite new motor
ambulances ! They are running all day between the
Valandovo dressing station and Strumnitza Station,
carrying sick and wounded.
November 1 1 .
To-day there was an attack, and our soldiers behaved
splendidly. It began at daybreak ; the mist hid our
movements. Suddenly the adversaries found themselves
face to face.
" You should have seen them run," said a young fellow
of the 1915 class — such a fair-haired, charming lad.
He was wounded, but all the same quite happy " because
we gave them a licking."
My five ambulance cars are extremely useful. The
" Service de Sante " is much complimented, and I feel
myself well supported and my opinions agreed to.
The head of the whole Service de Sante passed a day
here with me the day before yesterday. He seemed very
pleased with all we had done.
I am head doctor of a whole division (isolated up to the
present), and am responsible for the health of 20,000 men,
made up of four infantry regiments, two engineer com-
panies, five artillery groups.
I have two dressing stations (No. 3 and No. 4) and a
stretcher-bearer section, and about seventy-five officers,
more or less, directly under my orders.
Korka and Birama are quite well again ; the sun has
cured them.
I went out on " Golden " for an hour this afternoon.
The roads are often turned into rivers, which is not a bad
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 217
thing, for it leaves on them a layer of sand which is very
soft for the horses' feet.
When " Golden " feels the sand under him I can hardly
hold him. He trembles, pulls himself together, arches his
neck, and dances. An almost imperceptible movement of
my hand or pressure with my knees, and he lets himself
go, stretches himself out like a bow, and gallops to his
heart's content. I yield to his every fantasy. We are
both intoxicated with the joy of movement.
Our shrapnel was bursting on the hills of the frontier
towards 4 o'clock, the firing was regular and very exact.
As I returned home a storm came from the north. The
air on the mountains seemed to tremble. The great
shadows of the clouds spread quickly.
Against the black background the hills became violet,
then purple and bluish. There was a whole variety of
tints, one superposed above another. Finally a heavy
downfall of rain crossed the valley of the Vardar.
On one side there was suddenly a great white veil which
clothed the mountain, and on the other a dazzling sunlight
which left its beauty bare and smiling.
If you come to Salonika bring a camp-bed. It is not
very cold at Salonika, nor perhaps will it be here, for there
are great quantities of mulberry and pomegranate trees.
I do not know what to advise you about Salonika.
Perhaps you ought to wait a little.
You know that we are on the very worst terms with
the Greeks. Salonika may not be safe for very much
longer. Your loving HUSBAND.
November 13.
I have received your letters from London of October 30
and November I. You seem to think I need a rest. You
218 UNCENSORED LETTERS
were right. I was very much over- worked during the
first days of our establishment at Strumnitza Station.
I had jaundice. Don't be anxious. Everybody had it,
either at the Dardanelles or here in Serbia. It is a most
interesting medical fact. Doctors are discussing it. I
have made some minute observations; but without my
microscope I cannot get far. . . .
As for me, I was on milk diet for a week or so, and now
my skin has become clear again. I feel better than ever
— quite strong and in good spirits.
To-day I finished my service in the morning, and at
1 1 o'clock was ready to leave the camp on " Golden." It
would have been impossible to remain indoors.
Imagine the most beautiful January day on the Riviera.
The air was light, sparkling, deliciously fresh. The colours
were so clear that just to open one's eyes and look around
was a joy. Birama took a cold lunch for me in his
saddle-bags, and I started early to inspect my first line
ambulances.
First I went to Kaluchova to photograph the famous
thousand-year-old plane tree. It is in the bed of a torrent,
and spreads forth the gigantic bouquet of its golden leaves
in front of a half-built mosque. What a superb Eastern
picture !
Afterwards I rode through the villages which are on the
last slopes of the mountain, and we stopped for lunch on
the high banks of a river.
For dessert a few of our " 75 " shells went whistling over
our heads towards the hill-tops, where they burst. I made
two sketches of the distant mountains.
At 3.30 we were at the village of Veseli, more picturesque
than anything I have seen here yet, and of which my
sketch will give you no idea. One descends a very steep
path into a river-bed, where little separate silver streams
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 219
are flowing. Out of this oasis spring great and out-spread-
ing golden plane trees. The sky is blue. In this landscape
of varied tints the tents of our soldiers and the dwellings of
the peasants stand out clearly against the mountain.
I only meet cooks in the houses of the village. Some
have even penetrated into the mosque. Oh, they don't
mind. Allah is punishing their profanity by blowing
smoke into their eyes, which blinds them.
The meals, carried by the men because of the difficulty
of the steep paths, arrive only two hours later on the hills
where our machine-guns are placed.
Returning during the quiet of the evening hours we
heard a noise like thunder. It was continual, never
stopping for a minute. Krivolak was again under a rain
of shells. What could be more distressing in the midst
of such beauty F
The immense plain of the Vardar stretched out on either
side. The belt of mountains surrounding it was bathed
in blue mist, dark and deep like the sea. " Golden "
brought me back to Strumnitza in some long gallops, not,
however, without having drunk deep at the Hudovo
spring, where I am having some hygiene works done.
I was back soon after 5, not in the least tired. I have
signed the mail, sent off letters and orders, and here I am
writing to you ! Do I seem ill ?
Yesterday I went on an inspection by motor car : a lovely
drive — Strumnitza, Valandovo, Rabrovo, and Doiran. All
along the road were your British soldiers, upright and
splendid. The lake of Doiran was as beautiful as the lake
of Geneva by this transparent light. And the town is
in an amphitheatre like Lausanne. At Doiran station,
which is Greek, there were Serbian, Greek, French,
English, soldiers.
Bless you, Beloved. J.
220 UNCENSORED LETTERS
STRUMNITZA STATION, November 18.
DEAR HEART,
Since last night it has begun to be cold. We have to
dress more warmly in consequence. I have bought all
that I needed in Salonika. I am living in the house of the
" garde-barriere " on the railway line.
I read the French papers last night. They do not view
our situation optimistically. Our fate is bound up with
that of the Serbian army, and we now know that it is cut
off from the Allies at Salonika, and that it is being driven
into the mountains towards the west. Doubtless the heroism
of the Serbians is prodigious, but there are limits.
Our own operations are very successful. We have
cleared the Vardar from Krivolak to Doiran, and thrown
the Bulgarian divisions beyond the frontier. We hold the
strategic points on the road to Strumnitza, where we
should go at once if the British could supply us with
enough reserves.
My Division, the 1 56th, is firmly established between
Gradetz and Tatarli. Along an extent of 12 miles, imagine
a series of mountains some of which are more than 2,500
feet high. We stormed the hills and have remained on the
summits. Our guns and the heroism of our infantry have
accomplished marvels.
The Bulgarians have had considerable losses, and we
have buried their dead by hundreds. Cartfuls of their
rifles are brought back to our camp.
It is probable that we shall leave this place to the
English when the situation is clearer. But what can we
do either as regards Serbia or Constantinople ? We are
only three or four divisions against the Bulgarians, Austro-
Germans, and Turks. Uskub and Veles are in Bulgarian
hands ; Old Serbia — the Serbia of the north — no longer
exists. We are two months late.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 221
The Times doubtless gives you better information than
I can on the subject. Besides, we know nothing more
than the English and French papers tell us. The Greek
papers never say a word that is true.
Mille tendresses, petite femme cherie. Your JOSEPH.
November 20.
Yesterday I went for a long ride into the mountains on
the right bank of the Vardar. I was accompanied by the
head doctor of No. 4 dressing station. First we went
through the village of Mitrovitza, then up a high hill from
which we had a beautiful panorama.
A series of dark green walls succeeded each other in a
most wonderful setting of lines and curves. The landscape
terminated in the sky with immaculate white hills. All
the details were charming.
Torrents rushed down in waterfalls over abrupt gorges,
where plane trees sent out touches of autumn gold. It
was a wild, abandoned region. Occasionally we took our
field-glasses to search the bushes. Komitadjis had been
there for the last few nights. We were armed ; Birama
(my African servant), made like a Hercules, is worth two
Bulgarians.
Later we came to a diabolical olive-shaped bridge — a
ruined construction which, however, enables the natives
to cross the Petronska 60 feet above the noisy fast-flowing
water. Giddiness forced us to halt. It would have been
dangerous to risk the horses. . . .
On our return we met three Serbian women in a narrow
lane. They were young, and were coming back from the
forest after cutting wood. Their little asses were carrying
enormous bundles.
Like all peasants, these women were bare-headed and
222 UNCENSORED LETTERS
bare-footed. They wore red and white aprons, one of
them a brilliantly red apron, probably a new one. She
had cheap bracelets on her wrists. She blushed when we
looked at her.
The asses, which were a little way in front, took fright
at our big horses. One rushed off, but its burden slipped
and pulled the ass over ; it remained there with its four
feet in the air. I asked Birama to help ; he rushed for-
ward and raised the poor victim.
The women remained at a distance, watching with wide-
open eyes. Birama tried to reload the ass. But it took
two, and the women approached. The one in the new
apron blushed and stopped. One of them at last made up
her mind, and rearranged the scaffolding of faggots. She
was not nearly as big as Birama, but more dexterous.
They exchanged smiles across the ass's back. She even
laughed. . . .
When we had moved off, bursts of laughter came from
the three young Serbian women — the first laughs to be
heard on this dismal countryside.
Bonsoir, cherie. Your JOE.
November 21.
I put on for the first time to-day my steel helmet, which
protects my head from shrapnel. It is heavy and weighs
more than 2 Ibs.
Everybody here is in good spirits. Our initiative and
entrain have been praised several times. The London
and Paris newspapers are not reassuring. In our particular
district we are getting on all right. Our soldiers are very
plucky and in very good health.
Your devoted HUSBAND.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 223
November 22.
DEAREST,
I chatted this evening with a Serbian who has just come
from Novi-Bazar, and had to pass through the whole of
Albania. He says that the Serbian army driven towards
the west is still intact. It will take the offensive again
when the time comes.
Albania is quiet. Essad Pasha is on good terms with
the Serbians, and will remain faithful to them. There
are doubtless some attempts at revolt, but they are quickly
and easily put down.
The Albanians are capable of keeping their word. They
are a wild mountain people as agile as goats, made like
greyhounds. Their features are strong and regular.
There are paths in this country, no roads ; and what
paths ! We are working hard to improve them. But let
an army try to pass on them !
I am going to have a Serbian interpreter to accompany
me to the villages and to translate for the wounded Serbians.
I am trying to learn a few Serbian words, but you know
how slow I am at foreign languages.
I do not know if you can picture to yourself my imme-
diate surroundings here. Strumnitza is a station and a very
modest ruined hamlet. I live in the little house of the
railway gate-keeper. You can imagine what that must be.
There is also in this pseudo-palace part of No. 4 dressing
station, and the " Direction du Service de SanteV' The
first storey is reached by an outside stone staircase. The
Direction is up there. In this bureau an administrative
officer and my secretaries are working.
Adjoining the bureau is my room, which has two windows
— one on the courtyard, the other on the mountains.
Yesterday I stuck pictures on to the walls ; it is more
cheerful in the evening. On the wall there is also a map
224 UNCENSORED LETTERS
of Europe, two little ones of the Balkans, and two shelves
ingeniously made by boxes placed one on the top of the
other. My overcoat and mackintosh and clothes hang
on nails. In a corner is my little camp-bed with a mattress
and sheets. On the wall above my head hang my field-
glasses, revolver, and sword. Then there are my two
regulation tin boxes, my saddle and Birama's.
I keep for the end . . . my stove. It is tiny, thin as
an onion skin. It reddens as quickly as a young girl. It
is an unparalleled joy for Korka when he has to light the
stove. I must say I like it too. He warms his hands and
passes them quickly over his cheeks and eyes while they
are still hot.
You would have some shocks if you were at Salonika. It
appears that there is such tension that the guns of the
ships might go off of themselves ! The Greeks have
mobilised against us. It is incredible all the obstructions
they have put in our way. We cannot rent houses for
hospitals. For the railway line we have six Serbian
engines. ... I think Lord Kitchener, who is coming to
inspect us, will be pretty disgusted ! !
British journalists came here yesterday in my absence.
I lent them one of our cars. You will have articles about
us.
Do not speak again of my six days' leave. I feel I am
needed and useful here. I am absolutely well. This is
not at all the time to ask for leave.
November 23.
I went for another long ride again yesterday accompanied
by a young doctor. We had gone so far into the mountains
that we thought we would return by a different way, and
followed the hollowed-out bed of a torrent. What adven-
A MOTOR MACHINE Gl'N WHICH WAS DISEMBARKED ON THE
2ND NOVEMBER AT STRUMNITZA, AND IOOK PART IN THE
FIGHT AGAINST THE lU'LGARS ON THE 3RD.
THE RETREAT. FRENCH AND SERBIAN SOLDIERS GUARDING
THE FLAG ON THE VALANDOVO-KATORLI ROAD.
PREPARATIONS FOR THROWING A BRIDGE OVER THE VARDAR
AT STRUMNITZ .
BULGARIAN PRISONERS AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE
I56TH DIVISION.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 225
tures, what unexpected baths, we had before getting out
of it again !
In this lost region, far away from the explorers' road
and human curiosity, we found a small village. An un-
finished tower looked from the distance like a dungeon of
the thirteenth century. Background of autumn plane trees.
We felt for our revolvers. Nothing moved in the first
houses ; no smoke to indicate life. The silence was
absolute.
We advanced cautiously. Suddenly we came on some
black fowls. Birama insisted on capturing some, as every-
body had fled.
We dismounted in front of the church. A woman, some
sixty years old but with a frank and loyal expression, came
out. She saluted us by raising her hands to her forehead.
We gave her some money. She then called a friend who
was still older than herself. They showed us the church.
They have both remained in this deserted village. They
are the guardians of its extinguished hearths. What
courage these poor old things must have had to stay here
alone, lost in the mountains at the mercy of a comitadji
who may pass and strangle them ! Birama had his fowl,
but naturally I paid for it.
We quickly became very friendly with these two old
ladies of Greista ; and when we left they accompanied us
as far as a fountain in a little wood of golden plane trees.
There they said good-bye as the path became difficult.
Good-night, little Wife, and I will dream of you. T
November 25.
MY OWN,
There is no letter from you in the last post, doubtless
because these new addresses invite errors. All the same
226 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I received a packet of newspapers. How is it that the
Times and the Vie Parisienne have been able to remain
so long rolled up together in the same packet ?
We are beginning to get uneasy here, and to wonder
what will become of us. The Serbian army is cut into
three sections. Monastir is probably in the hands of the
Bulgarians. We hear that Greece wants to disarm us if
we repass over her frontier.
For a time, immense reinforcements were passing inces-
santly day and night. Now the movement has stopped.
There only remain five engines for us from Krivolak to
Salonika.
If we can escape, it is possible that we shall go to Egypt
to defend the Suez Canal ! Events have moved quickly
since the union of the German, Austrian, and Bulgarian
armies. We arrived here two or three months too
late.
The weather has become rigorous. A north wind cuts
one's face. It freezes hard every night. Fortunately I
am no longer in my tent. My little stove is red-hot. My
room is comfortable, and I have a good lamp.
In the early morning, Korka comes in with a huge bundle
of wood under his arm. He is frozen. He lights the stove
for himself. He does not even look at me. It is only
when he is warm that he thinks of me, opens the windows,
and brings my breakfast.
This morning General Bailloud came into my room. It
was 6.45, and I only had half my face shaved. The
General gets up always at 5 a.m. !
Yesterday I returned to a village of refugees, in whom
I now inspire less terror. I visited the houses one after
another accompanied by a young interpreter. Women,
children, and dogs were lying in the sun before their doors
amidst their maize. Before they recognised me there
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 227
was great alarm ; the women rushed into their houses, the
children cried, the dogs barked.
The houses of this village, called Balinee, are of mud.
They are big and like barns covered by a roof of bricks
with no intermediate ceiling. They are generally divided
into two rooms. The asses, oxen, sheep and goats are kept
in the biggest. The little one is for the family and has a
good wood fire.
There are heaps of boxes, coloured rugs, blankets, but
no beds, chairs or cupboards. They grind the maize
between two round stones. With the flour, they make
huge loaves of bread which are baked, fire above, fire
below.
The husbands of most of these women are at the war.
Some are plucky and work so hard that they succeed in
feeding their children. Others have lost all hope and do
nothing but lament and cry. Their husbands are dead,
their children are hungry and cold and their poor little
bodies are covered with sores.
When I question these women they cry still more. They
tell me their miseries, and though I do not understand
their words, I am moved to the depths of my heart.
Theirs is the lamentation of all women who suffer by
war. It is the same desolation everywhere. Sobs banish
words ; the universal language of all women now.
To-day, the 25th, I went on horseback to two new
villages which I had not yet visited — Miletkovo and
Smokvica, both on the right bank of the Vardar. Milet-
kovo is half deserted. One reaches it by a road which
crosses a very pretty torrent. The water flows in a bed
of slate-blue pebbles and under a sumptuous golden canopy
of plane trees.
As in all these villages, there are only women. Their
first movement is flight. But if there is an old woman,
03
228 UNCENSORED LETTERS
matters improve. She does not go away, but welcomes
soldiers with a smile.
We all talk without understanding each other. Mean-
time the fugitives reappear. It is rare if one of them at
least has not the charm of freshness and youth. When
our eyes meet, they blush.
If you address a few words to the Beauty, she is bashful
and moves away. When you depart she is hidden behind
the bushes. This evening we saluted the Beauty of Milet-
kovo, who (feeling herself safe behind her hedge) raised
her hand to her lips, but the kiss intended for us also
included the whole Serbian land.
November 26.
Thick snow. ... It is very cold. This did not prevent
my riding. Our situation seems quite safe and calm, but
it is only so in appearance. You see the papers ! Salo-
nika of old was called the " coveted city." What epithets
and nicknames will it not deserve ?
November 30.
An exceedingly violent cold, from which many of our
men are suffering. An icy north wind, but sunshine all
the same. A movement shortly : we shall go to Salonika
for the time being. I am quite well and in as good spirits
as the first day.
Trust me and be calm, my good little, true little Wife.
Your JOE.
December i.
MY DEAR ONE,
Since November 26 we have been deep in winter. It
is majestic and terrible. Catastrophes are beginning.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 229
Animals are dying. By hundreds our men are coming
in with frozen feet. This procession of lamed men is dread-
ful ; it does not cease day or night.
The wind is blowing from the north without a pause.
It snowed for three days, beginning by big, hard flakes. It
was like a fairy spectacle at the theatre, though you could
hardly see anything in front of you.
The next day the wind joined in. The great white flakes
took possession of the country, clothing its smallest con-
tours, showing up every outline. I again went out on
horseback to admire the spectacle.
At the village of refugees not far from Strumnitza I
found the little houses crowded. All were thawing
themselves by groups round the fires, for it was impossible
for them to go out. The beasts are under the same roofs
as the people, warming them by their breath and life just
ae it happened in Bethlehem. The sheep are now in
safety from the wolves, which yesterday killed more than
forty of them.
I talked to the women and children, who are beginning
to know me. " And who is that ? " I asked my inter-
preter, pointing to a young Serbian woman with blue eyes
and serious expression. " She is called Mary Magdalena.
. . . You know the one who helped Christ when He died."
The interpreter does not speak French very well. It is
true that the blue eyes of the young woman could console
a god. We ate some maize bread which Mary Magdalena
had cooked in front of us.
On returning we had to face the wind in a storm of snow,
which froze and blinded us. The horses stumbled on to
obstacles, and nearly fell. Starving birds flew before us
and followed us, determined not to desert us.
Then for a time the sun disengaged itself from the thick
clouds. It shone through the layers of snow which were
230 UNCENSORED LETTERS
falling and which blocked the atmosphere. This struggle
between the light and the dark whiteness of the snow was
very beautiful. The next morning Birama had one of
his feet frozen (only first degree). My horses are ill, and
I myself have no inclination to go out again.
Yesterday and to-day the cold increased still more. The
Vardar is beginning to freeze. This impetuous torrent
froths in icicles and big pieces of ice. It is flowing more
slowly. Soon perhaps it will be one big block of ice.
Last night a detachment came down from the mountains.
They were so frozen that they rushed into the houses, into
the tents, even into the rooms of my wounded, so as not
to die of cold. They were driven out again.
Tumult and cries followed. Some thought it was a
Bulgarian attack. When we got up this morning we
discovered that wooden railings, doors and windows had
disappeared. They had burnt them.
What then is to be done in this country ? We shall
retire probably. Perhaps in a week we shall be on the
right bank of the river going towards Ghevgeli and Salonika.
We believe we are going to Salonika.
I wear my overcoat, a white goat-skin, my cloth tunic,
a sweater, a woollen waistcoat, a thick vest and a cotton
chemise (seven thicknesses), and even then I am not
warm.
December 4.
It is a pity I have not much time to write to-day. There
is so much to say, but I will begin by the essential. We
are retreating — all of us. The three French divisions give
up the game.
Really the enterprise was a splendid one, but we were
not understood or followed. We are glad, all the same,
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 231
that we have had the honour of risking our lives for these
brave Serbians in their own country.
This morning we evacuated Krivolak station at 6 o'clock.
The Bulgarians were there at 7.30. We dynamited the
water reservoirs, the platforms, the principal bridges.
The retreat was effected in good order by all the paths,
all the defiles, and naturally by the railway line, which,
however, was quite insufficient.
At ii o'clock I took the train to Demirkapu. I wanted
to see for myself. It was one of the last voyages
northwards. The weather, which had become much more
bearable, turned cold again. There was a bitterly raw wind.
The further we moved forward the more difficult our
progress became ; the line was crowded with troops and
convoys of animals. Soldiers of France were scattered
about on both sides of the line, on the slopes of the moun-
tain, on the river beds. Their bearing was superb. They
were ruddy, and seemed well fed and in good form. The
new steel helmet gave a cachet of military uniformity
which had been lacking.
To reach Demirkapu we crossed the famous defile
called the " Iron Door of the Vardar." The mountains
which encircle the river, and which from Strumnitza
Station threaten to strangle it, seem almost to succeed
just here.
The Vardar, pressed between giant walls, battles and
roars. The rocks are grey, savage, and mighty. I could
not see the tops, though they are perhaps not very high.
A white cloud of thick snow-flakes hid the summit from
our view. It was a grand spectacle, but it only lasted a
few minutes.
The valley immediately afterwards stretched out im-
measurably wide, surrounded by a belt of hills crowned
with very low, heavy clouds and deeply covered with snow*
232 UNCENSORED LETTERS
All the valley is still white with snow, while at Strumnitza
there were only a few white stretches left.
Guide-books declare that it is here that another climate,
another land, the true Serbia begins. Nothing could be
more exact. One clearly has that impression.
There was often 60 centimetres of snow on the ground.
The thaw had transformed the town and the whole plain
into a huge marsh. I ventured forth to try and see General
Leblois, commanding the 57th Division, but I had to give
it up.
I watched some infantry passing. They were covered
with mud from head to foot — thick and bad-smelling mud.
The horses were like monsters. It surpassed description.
The mist fell still lower. It was very cold. One felt very
melancholy.
What I saw to-day some journalists who came from a
great distance would have very much liked to see. We
received them at our mess several days ago.
I presided at table. I proposed a toast. A New York
correspondent answered in pretty much these terms : " The
whole universe has fixed its eyes on this little corner of
the earth. Again France has been magnificent. We
Americans love the French. We admire them now more
than ever." There were songs and recitations. A cele-
brated caricaturist made some good caricatures.
They slept at the ambulance station. They were all
charming. They were very pleased with their reception
We had them to lunch on the next day. You will probably
see our photos in the papers.
I forgot to tell you that to-day, about 12 o'clock, a
Bulgarian battery of 120 succeeded in placing some shells
just above us. We hope devoutly, however, to keep them
quiet till we have passed the bridge. After that we our-
selves shall destroy it.
VAI.ANDOVO DURING THE BATTLE OK NOV. 3. COUNTRY CAKTS
ASSEMBLED IN TDK COURT OF THE MOSQUE TO EVACUATE THE
WOUNDED.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 233
December 5.
It seems to be decided that we retreat by Doiran. No-
body knows what will happen. Perhaps we shall be
harassed, perhaps not. In any case we shall be very
quickly and easily in Greek territory. By the time this
letter reaches you we shall be at Salonika.
I wish I could go with it to you.
Your JOE.
December 8, 9 p.m.
DEAR WIFE,
The hour is a tragic one. We are beating a retreat.
We were only supposed to be starting to-morrow, but we
must hasten if we are not to be outflanked.
This evening petroleum was distributed in order to
destroy all that could not be carried away. The Bul-
garians are there at Gradec. Our first lines are resisting
well, but the attacks are becoming more and more severe.
Freed from other fronts, the enemy is throwing himself on
us. We shall hold out as long as it is necessary.
Telegrams and telephone messages arrived continually
all last night and all to-day without interruption. Motor
ambulances have brought their wounded to us here, and
we have filled waggon after waggon. It has been one long
procession of blood-stained images. We recognised among
them many of our friends.
At 2 o'clock General Bailloud arrived for the burial of an
officer whom we welcomed and feted here a few days ago.
The cannonade and rifle fire are getting nearer and nearer.
The trains on which we were counting do not come. How
shall we send off our hundreds of wounded and these stocks
of material which are massed at the side of the railway
line ?
234 UNCENSORED LETTERS
At 4 o'clock we succeeded in sending off a very, very
long train. Huge guns were on some of the trucks. There
were two engines — one in front, one behind. It is so
extraordinarily long that we climb on to the raised mound
of the ambulance station and watch it move slowly towards
the bridge.
Shells immediately explode around it. The white
smoke of the engines mingles with the white clouds of the
cannonade. For a moment there is a magnificent concert.
In the glory of the guns and their proud music the last
corps of Frenchmen pass out of sight. It is an historic
vision. . . .
Now orders are given that we too must fly to-night.
The other trains, if there are any, must creep out slowly
under cover of darkness. To-morrow the Bulgarians will
be in this very place where I am writing.
During dinner I was sent for by the Staff. The last
movements were planned. Birama is starting at once
with my horses. I am to follow in one of the last motor
cars. Dressing station No. 4 is to take with it all its
wounded as well as those whom we are expecting by the
last train to-night.
If any wounded have to be left behind a doctor will stay
and look after them. He was chosen by lot this afternoon.
He accepted the task simply and nobly. I was able to
tell him, in shaking hands with him, that the General
appreciated his devotion.
GHEVGELI, December 9.
We departed at midnight by motor car. Before leaving
my room for the last time, I instinctively put all in order.
Others broke their windows and any odd furniture which
had been made there during these last days.
Our convoy consisted of two motor cars. In the black
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 235
darkness their lanterns sent forth a bright light. We
were immediately in the midst of an incredible medley of
people and animals. Our lights reveal to us the smallest
details. All were full of anxiety about the unknown
fate which is hanging over us.
When the moment has come for the last men to retreat
and leave the district, how will the Bulgarians behave ?
Shall we be pursued, outflanked ? If the losses are to be
reduced to a minimum, there will have to be an exact and
perfect understanding between the different units so that
nobody lets go too soon.
We were driving in the wake of a little motor car
which was in front. Our lanterns gave it the appearance
of a big white ball which rolled, bounced, jumped, accord-
ing to the holes in the road. Every few minutes we crossed
convoys. Here is a " 75 " battery ; there cavalry or
sappers.
On the edge of the road infantry were marching past
as in a cinema. There was no rifle fire near us. The guns
were silent. The mist grew thicker. One could not
distinguish anything a yard in front. Some carriages
plunged into a deep ditch.
At last we reached Valandovo. This pretty little town
which we conquered, and which rose so daintily from
amidst a wood of pomegranate trees, is no more. It was
burnt some few hours before we arrived. The minaret
and church tower fell alike into the flames.
At Rabrovo, also conquered by us, everything was already
destroyed by fire, but it was quite an ordinary village.
In the mud of the Bojima all vehicles sank deeply.
Mules refused to move. There was a certain amount of
disorder, and the immense column had stopped. Some
mules preferred to break their carriages and their own
limbs rather than make another effort. A large collection
236 UNCENSORED LETTERS
of vehicles in despairing attitudes were lying pushed up
against the banks at the side of the road. . . .
As we passed along this unending procession we asked for
news of the latest events, and questioned those most likely
to know anything. Vague and bad rumours were circu-
lating, but we took into account the darkness and the
tragic ending to our Odyssey.
Worn out with the jerks of the car and the length of the
road, I longed for sleep. I shut my eyes, but it was too
cold. Suddenly we found we were quite alone on the road.
We seemed to have lost our way. Nobody knew this
route.
At last a man on horseback appeared. Fortunately it
was an Englishman. He galloped up with an electric
lamp in his hand and quickly put us right.
About 5 a.m. we stopped at Cimarli. I established a
dressing station in a deserted house. The site, decorated
by tinted autumn branches, is particularly pretty. The
wounded are attended there and sent on to Ghevgeli.
About 2 o'clock we started off again in our car by a
very picturesque road. At 5 we reached Ghevgeli, passing
over the magnificent bridge which is being mined and
will shortly be destroyed. We are told that at 7 o'clock
this morning Strumnitza Station was dynamited — the town
just a heap of cinders. Everything was destroyed. At
7.30 the Bulgarians had not yet appeared at Strumnitza
Station.
This evening I shall sleep here at Ghevgeli. There is
a concentration of troops here, but it will not be for long.
We are on our way to Topsin,
December 10.
Yesterday evening, having dined on cold fried potatoes
and a bowl of concentrated milk, I slept in my camp-bed.
SALONIKA AND SERBIA 237
I had just my bed and my tent. All my other things are
at Topsin or on the way there or ...
I slept in a Ghevgeli schoolhouse on the ground floor.
There were still the blackboard and the desks. It was
terribly cold, for every minute orderlies and soldiers were
coming in and going out. This morning I have changed
my abode, and am in a splendid house. I am lodged like
a prince. I have even a stove ! All day cannonading
in the distance.
Your loving HUSBAND.
CHAPTER XI
RETREAT AND RETURN
GHEVGELI, December 10.
DEAR WIFE OF MINE,
The schoolroom where I slept was even colder than I
thought. As I told you, I had been given hospitality there
by the Commissariat. After having dined on some cold
potatoes at a child's desk while the head of the Commis-
sariat dictated his orders for the next day's supplies — my
mouth watered listening to him, and it made me hungrier
than ever — I lay down to get some sleep ; but, as there
was a placard on the door, they took me for a Com-
missariat Officer. Soldiers and servants came in every
minute and asked me for orders or information. They
were well received ! The whole vocabulary of the camps
was hurled at them !
When I woke up heaps of soldiers were lying alongside
of me, and one of those horrible lost dogs which wander
about everywhere.
I was determined to find a better shelter. I noticed a
big house, and, going to it, found an engineer officer who
was just leaving it. He gave it up to me, as well as two
chairs, a stove, wood, and coal.
But I was in a great hurry to get warm. I went searching
about the town, and found a splendid stove which I lighted
at once without waiting for the one promised me.
Dressing station No. 3 was in a swampy field not far from
the Vardar bridge. I lunched there under a canvas tent,
and we were all frozen. Returning to my room, which had
RETREAT AND RETURN 239
been swept, cleaned, and warmed, I fell asleep. I washed
with warm water and soap, read my letters, newspapers,
and dined, sitting near my stove and cooking my dinner
on it.
In the night I had to visit some soldiers at the station
who had preferred a five hours' walk here rather than
continue their guard duty on the hills at Greisha and
Ghavato. A defection like this helps us to appreciate the
others — those who never let go. If one has never seen
human yielding, how can one judge human courage ?
December n.
As soon as it was light — brilliant sunshine quite early —
there was an intense cannonade very close to us. On the
principal Ghevgeli road numbers of troops were passing —
the 59th Division, going to Doiran to help the English, who
were said to need reinforcements. The Bulgarians, we
hear, have tried to outflank them on the extreme right
wing. Tatarli and the road from Kosturino to Strumnitza
town are said to be in Bulgarian hands !
My service is responsible for the evacuation of all the
wounded from Ghevgeli. Dressing station No. 3 is estab-
lished on the site of a former hospital. But first the whole
personnel has had to help to put out the fires which our
predecessors have lighted.
Having received instructions to leave nothing in the
hands of the enemy, they had not realised that we were
not the enemy and that we ourselves could throw the
incendiary torches. They had only left stained and filthy
rooms, and two corpses in one of them.
Fires have been lit at the four corners of the town.
Villainous-looking groups of refugees pull about the dead
horses, intending to feed off them. Toothless and ragged
24o UNCENSORED LETTERS
old women hunt for crusts of bread among the rubbish
heaps. Wretched, poverty-stricken little children collect
empty tins and beg.
I send off two ambulance cars asked for urgently from
the right bank of the river, where no road is supposed to
exist for this kind of vehicle.
The sun shines again. The town gets emptier and
emptier. It is almost deserted now. I ride through it on
horseback. Death indeed is coming. How dreadful, this
last agony of a town, a country, a race !
In the streets, formerly full of crowds, there is nobody,
nothing. Houses remain open, ready to be plundered,
burnt, destroyed. They have an air of resignation to
their fate.
My horse suddenly stiffens and draws himself together.
An immense flame creeps along the whole length of the
barracks. The buildings crack, tremble in a last shiver.
Enormous clouds of smoke, then masses of flame. The
work of death continues
The children, however, have succeeded in pulling out a
few blackened logs which burn their little fingers. One
of them is dragging a cross. What a terrible symbol !
But a little girl comes to help him, and they smile at each
other.
Sinister rumours are circulating among the soldiers.
My two cars came back without having been able to
fulfil their mission, because the road is held by the Bul-
garians. There are orders to move. I have sent off my
horses and servants.
The secretaries and the rest of the personnel are to take
the last train — that of 2 o'clock in the morning, when the
station will have been dynamited. As for myself, I shall
have a motor car later on. I dictate orders late into the
night.
GHEVGELI IN FLAMES DURING THE RETREAT.
fllii
CHILDREN PULLING OUT HALF-BURNT LOGS WHEN THE TOWN
WAS SET ON FIRE.
FRENCH SOLDIERS IN THE VILLAGE OF PIROVO.
DOCTOR SUBIN DRESSING WOUNDED.
RETREAT AND RETURN 241
December 12.
In the night there were tremendous explosions. I
imagined it to be shell fire. No, it was the railway and
bridges which were being blown up as pre-arranged. I
knew it, but had forgotten.
A thick fog. A closely-formed procession of troops and
convoys. They are hurrying. The Vardar bridge is going
to be dynamited. Nobody wants to see the entry of the
Bulgarians into Ghevgeli ! About 7 o'clock, the hospital
is burning.
I throw a last glance at the house I am leaving. It
has sheltered and warmed me for a moment, and now it
must die. We literally cross the flames in order to leave
the town.
There are troops everywhere still. The Vardar bridge
is new, brand-new. There is another near by already in
the water. It is the one of the last war. I see the section
whose mission it is to destroy the bridge, and I distinguish
the wire which will transmit the spark.
I established dressing station No. 3 in the village of
Bogorodica in the church itself. It appeared to be pretty
peaceful on our arrival there. Directly we were settled in,
I heard that we should be under rifle fire in an hour, and
that I must move forward as quickly as possible.
I went to see a place on the bank of the Vardar from
which the wounded could be transported by boats. There
is a second place just opposite Makukovo. We had the
greatest difficulty in reaching the village by motor car.
The roads were crowded with troops. Here, one has the
impression that the retreat is being carried out very
methodically. At Makukovo we are in Greece. I was
given shelter there by Greek peasants, who were in
indescribable terror at the Bulgarian approach.
242 UNCENSORED LETTERS
KARASOULI, December 13.
DEAREST,
On leaving the Greek house yesterday I met General
Bailloud. He proposed that we should go together to the
village. I dismounted and walked with him. We waited
for news in the middle of the village of Makukovo. We
heard that some artillery waggons have fallen into the
hands of the Bulgarians. " It is not of great importance,"
said the General. " The whole division might have been
taken."
The whole staff mounted again. This time I was with
them. The General was saluted everywhere as a friend.
" Golden " was much flattered to be among the escort,
and took all the honour for himself. He pranced, made
himself beautiful, and paid so little attention to his rider
that he nearly threw me.
As we rode in front of the troops the fog got thicker and
thicker. . . . We drove the last part of the way by motor
car. We arrived here at 5 o'clock.
I made it my first business to unload the ambulance cars
which were waiting here full of wounded. But there were
no stretcher-bearers anywhere near. I beckoned to a
soldier. " Will you carry this wounded man ? " " I
am a colonel's cook."
I gave him a look. He saw he could not play with me,
and in a very short time all my wounded were being
carried by amateurs to the hospital. I sent the cars back
to Makukovo. If they cannot escape the enemy they
are to be burnt like the others. Three have had to be
destroyed.
I went through indescribable dirt and mud to the
dressing stations and hospital established near the
camp. On my return I found my tent erected. It was
raining slightly, and terribly cold. I lighted a quantity
RETREAT AND RETURN 243
of candles, and stuck them up in my tent to give me the
illusion of warmth.
The staff has set working its electric light machine. The
noise of the engine is the only sound to break the silence
of the night.
TOPSIN, December 15.
Since yesterday I have been here, in perfect health. I
arrived after a single long ride from Amatovo. " Here "
means Topsin, 23 kilometres from Salonika.
I slept in a real room, and had a fire. I have received
a quantity of letters, one from you of December 3.
We had an extraordinary Odyssey, marked by the magni-
ficent pluck of our troops, through a country as curious as
its inhabitants are original. Have no anxiety about me ;
all is quite right.
But to go back. All night at Karasouli men who had
escaped from I don't know where were wandering about
near our tents. They wanted to rest, but probably could
not because of the cold. There was a drizzle, and the
ground was soaked.
Many detachments which it had been feared were lost
arrived during the night. They fell into line in the camp.
It was a second Zeitenlick !
On exploring our camp we found the emplacements
of big Greek guns, which, even yesterday, were aimed on
... us ... ? Oh no, on the Bulgarians !
A nice programme had been planned to drive us back,
a lost flock, into the region between the lakes and the
Vardar ! Look at the map. Do you know a more
treacherous country in the world ?
We started forward again at midday. As it was the
" Service de Sante " which had succeeded in finding a road
244 UNCENSORED LETTERS
out of the swamps, we led the way, through an ocean of
sticking mud — an interminable filthy marsh. It was
unimaginable !
We on horseback, who could go to right and left and
choose our path, could manage to make some progress ;
but the carts, the artillery waggons ! All the horses had
to be united for one waggon, and when that was freed the
same stratagem had to be employed for the next.
At about half-past 2 I crossed a bridge over the Aznack
built by our engineers. I left the convoys to get on as
best they could, and continued alone. On the crest of the
plateau which dominates the Vardar we found a good path.
We were able to gallop at last !
At 4 o'clock we reached Amatovo. There are no soldiers
there. It consists of farms where the hay is pressed. On
the plateau there are a very long barn and the church, below
the scattered houses of the village, and further off the
curving lines of rivers, little woods of delicate colouring,
the Vardar, the plain, and in the distance long lines of hills.
A beautiful region, but one which frightens ; it seems so
sinister and fatal.
There was a quantity of water-fowl there ; flocks of
ducks and herons were constantly outlined against the
grey sky.
I arranged a little corner of the barn for myself. There
was a good fire ; it was delicious.
Dressing station No. 3 joined me in the barn later. We
all slept well that night under a good roof and in a pro-
fusion of hay. . . .
During the night other convoys had joined up, and on
the morning of the I4th the ground was black with troops
as far as one could see. I went down during the morning
to Amatovo village, which at first had seemed to me
denuded of all interest. I found a Greek couple selling
RETREAT AND RETURN 245
tangerines, tobacco, and figs. Further on there were
women and children in bright and varied clothing.
As always, there were only old women. I found, how-
ever, one young girl who had dared to show herself. The
costume of the people here is very original ; and I have
never seen anything like it except at the theatre.
They are Koutzo-Valaques, nomads with strange cus-
toms. The women were knitting very warm and thick
socks, which they offered us and which we bought very
gladly. These women wear fichus, which are tightly
bound round their heads and come down low over the
forehead. Little pieces of hair are allowed to show.
Over a coat with light-blue sleeves they wear a bolero
with long tails, which forms a sort of military overcoat
drawn in at the waist and provided with big pockets on
either side. These give them a very warlike appearance.
The costume is bordered with red. Some also have
striped aprons of red, green and blue. One is surprised
that there is not either a sword or dagger dangling over
the hip.
The young girl had big eyes which threw out brilliant,
disturbing glances. She was wearing a good leather belt
fastened by a silver buckle. It was a very fine piece of
work of a design such as I have never seen before. I
asked her for it. At last she consented. With
lowered eyes, she undid the belt, and gave me the
buckle.
This is for you, oh treasure among women ! T
December 17.
MY DEAR WIFE,
At Amatovo as no orders seemed to be forthcoming,
and we were not a very great distance from Topsin, our
246 UNCENSORED LETTERS
destination, I settled to leave at midday on horseback with
Birama and an ambulance subaltern. Our horses carried
us very quickly along a track over the plateau, good enough
but never ending.
The Vardar plain on our right extended as far as we
could see. We passed the Greek fort which overlooks the
valley and the district between the lakes and the Vardar.
There were enormous ruts and holes in the road. We
were able to avoid them easily, but we wondered how the
waggons would manage.
We passed Dogaudzi and other broken-down hamlets ;
the deserted aspect of the country constantly increased.
About 4 o'clock we reached the extremity of the plateau,
and saw Topsin sleeping modestly in the valley.
A dark mist surrounded it. The fog was even thicker
in the plain. A cloud of mosquitoes followed and bothered
us. It reminded me of the colonies !
I found a soldier lying inanimate on the side of the road.
He still had his sack on his back and his rifle in his hand.
It looked as if he was dead, but I succeeded in bringing
him to, although he did not speak. I luckily found a cart
and had him transported to No. 4 dressing station.
At last we arrived in Topsin. Mud everywhere ; the
roads and camp-ground are all one big swamp, lying
between the station and a series of chalets with red-tiled
roofs. The latter compose the Modiano farm. The build-
ings are new, and the principal house is very comfortable ;
but as Greek soldiers have occupied the farm lately they
have carried off everything.
Whichever way I go in Topsin I find Greek soldiers.
They are crowded into the kitchens and outhouses. There
are hundreds of their little horses in the courtyards. A
dozen are dead, but nobody takes any notice of them.
I went to the principal villa. A Greek officer very
RETREAT AND RETURN 247
amicably offered me a room and a bed. Things arc
turning out better than I thought.
My coughing stopped with the heat thrown out by a
white porcelain stove. I warmed my hands. Delicious
sensation. All the miseries of the retreat were forgotten,
and I slept.
There was only one other French officer (the Com-
mandant R.) in the villa that night, but a great many
Greek officers. An icy wind penetrated the cracks of
every door and window.
I was awakened on the morning of the I5th by Birama
lighting my fire. I sent him to fetch my tin trunks,
which I had not seen for ten days. I had only been able
to take with me what I could carry on my saddle.
I was as delighted as a child to find I still possessed so
many nice things. My room looks like one in a colonial
bungalow, with its whitewashed walls and its windows
protected from mosquitoes by wire netting.
It was cold and raining in torrents. The swamp
deepened every minute. The soldiers, who had been
urged forward by the promise of a roof, were obliged to
plant their tents in the midst of these marshy plains. In
case of necessity I had my own tent put up beside No. 4
dressing station.
It rained without stopping a single minute ; soldiers,
dead with fatigue, continued to arrive all day. Nothing
is harder for the soldiers than rain and mud.
By means of great diplomacy, and after losing endless
time, I succeeded in keeping my room for one more night.
But I knew it would be the last, as the staff needed the
whole place. I was obliged to share my room with a
commandant.
Yesterday morning when we were still in bed General
Bailloud, who is always up at 5 a.m., walked into our
248 UNCENSORED LETTERS
room. He wished to lodge another division here, and was
rather perplexed as to how to manage. When he saw us
still sleeping he stopped short and asked us not to let him
disturb us.
I got up quickly. It was still pouring. The least
pessimistic began to have doubts about the attractiveness
of the country.
My expulsion from the big villa took time. Towards
IO o'clock Commandant R. announced that another
place has been found for me. He was very polite. I
shall certainly have the building which was first given to
the artillery but which, if the i22nd Division leaves . . .
It is quite clear ! Then with the greatest amiability
(how difficult it is to content everybody !) he said at last,
" Do you see that garret over there ? " . . .
I crossed a courtyard full of smoke and covered with
manure, managed just to escape being bitten by two big
dogs, and then had to climb a staircase, or rather a ladder.
It is close to the dormitory of the farm-hands.
The room is full of maize and corn. I had the maize
pushed into a corner and kept there by sacks piled up
against it. The room became palatial !
There is a door and a window, sackcloth replacing the
absent panes of the latter.
A penetrating smell of rats chokes me. There must
be thousands of them. It is true ; they jump on and over
me all night as if I did not exist. They pass and repass
over my body without the slightest qualms.
Korka had dragged a stove with him during the whole
retreat. He put it up, but it smoked terribly, which did
not astonish me when I found a yard of the pipe had been
squashed quite flat.
It continued to rain all day. By degrees everybody
arrived at Topsin.
RETREAT AND RETURN 249
One of the last was the head doctor of the Divisionary
Stretcher-bearer Corps (" Brancardiers Divisionnaires "),
whose duty it was to evacuate those wounded during the
fighting — an admirable man, who again on this occasion
had worked miracles.
I heard from him the details of the events, which I knew
already and which were simply heroic. At Cinarli, after
having burnt two motor cars and destroyed ten carts to
keep them out of the enemy's hands, they were obliged
to carry the wounded over mountain paths on the backs
of mules or on stretchers carried by men.
Not a single casualty was abandoned. I will add that
nowhere during the whole retreat were any wounded left
in the enemy's hands. There are men who are above all
human recompense. Dr. Canjole is one of these.
The tents of our men were torn up from the earth by the
violence of the torrents of water foaming everywhere.
It rained all night. The men were obliged to walk up and
down so as to keep warm and not remain motionless in
their damp clothes.
At last at 10 this morning, the I7th, the sun showed
itself, and till 4 o'clock it was all enchantment. We
lived again !
But what mud ! I had thought at Strumnitza to have
measured the most unsoundable depths, but here . . . The
whole country seems a moving marsh. Where have we
fallen ?
At 2 o'clock I went out on horseback. In front of the
station there is a river of mud, flowing here and there
through the camp, in which the men sink and disappear
into the swamp. I took the Salonika road. There the
exodus of the Greek soldiers continues. They are giving
.us room at last !
Your muddy but quite healthy HUSBAND.
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December 19.
MY LITTLE WIFE,
At 10 o'clock yesterday morning I started for Salonika,
which is only twenty-three kilometres distant. Pressing
questions of hygiene needed prompt solution. The weather
was cold, grey and misty.
The road, pretty good at first, became impossible after
the bridge over the Vardar because of the mud and the
endless traffic. The immense undulating district between
Zeitenlick and Salonika is peopled with an army. Formerly
it was a desert. Now there are fantastically long lines and
groups of tents — towns under canvas ; there are masses
of provisions, of munitions, a conglomeration of motor
cars of every model and form, a hundred motor-ambulances
in a line, rows of waggons thirty or forty deep.
Two of these waggons would suffice to knock up the best
road. There is no road, and a thousand cars are con-
stantly circulating. Why are trains not running ? At
the threshold of a town which has considerable resources,
entrepots, warehouses, buildings, our soldiers, munitions
and provisions, are under the open sky in the mud!
We passed a British artillery regiment with the usual
very correct bearing. The harness and trappings are of
first-class quality. A great many very young soldiers and
officers. Our soldiers always appear so badly dressed
beside the English.
I do not know how we did not kill, knock over, run into
any amount of soldiers and civilians. When we reached
the suburbs the mud was still as bad as ever, and we sent
blinding sprays on to the passers-by. I saw a French
police agent regulating the traffic in the middle of a
square.
Salonika is still as picturesque and animated as ever.
There are more British and French officers and fewer
RETREAT AND RETURN 251
Greeks. The harbour is more amply supplied with speci-
mens from the Allied dockyards.
In the shops and restaurants there is the same crowd of
women as before. We hear, however, that several thou-
sands of people have fled to other shores.
The cinemas are overflowing. It is true that it is
Saturday, and that the Jews' shops are closed. There is
great animation at the bureaux of the staffs and adminis-
trations— Government offices on a small scale. How
comfortably established some of them are ! What a lot
of paper we carry with us everywhere !
We meet in these bureaux always the same type of men
and officers. Not that we envy them. Their state of
mind is not ours. My admiration increases more and
more for the little unknown soldier who holds the trench.
The glorious seed which he sows in every wind is reaped
by " the base." Rewards do not reach him. With what
he has gained the men in the bureaux adorn them-
selves. We saw everywhere in these offices a respectable
number of new stripes and new medals. Yet since
October I not a single man round me has been made
corporal !
At half-past 4, I returned to my car which was to take
me back to Topsin. The chauffeur would not answer for
getting me back the same evening. Then, just as we
started, the lanterns went out. I settled that we should
put off our return till the next morning.
I went to dine with friends, who gave me a warm wel-
come and were most interested in my stories of Strumnitza.
It was really delicious to be reborn to life, and to talk with
women who have beautiful eyes and soft voices.
This morning we returned to Topsin in less than an hour.
Though perhaps I did not see enough at Salonika to form
an opinion, my impression was favourable. Now that
252 UNCENSORED LETTERS
we really hold the town, we shall remain there and defend
it. Where is the enemy ?
The Bulgarians have not crossed the Greek frontier.
The Austro-Germans are concentrating south of Uskub
with the intention of driving us into the sea. We are
playing one of our last cards in the East. With attention
and firmness we shall be able to hold on if circumstances are
favourable and if the enemy's forces are not too enormous.
The three French divisions are, as always, in the fore-
front. Our men, tired out by a difficult retreat, set to work
without a moment's delay to dig trenches. Our first lines
are some thirty kilometres up the Vardar. It appears
that on the right bank there are some 120,000 Greeks !
You see where Monastir is. ... Every hypothesis is
permissible. . . .
It seems to me that, masters of Salonika, we do not
affirm our will clearly enough. Soldiers, precious material,
munitions, are piled up on the outskirts of a town where
shelter under roofs is refused to us. Not even the railway
is reserved for us.
This morning it carried quantities of civilians to Ghevgeli,
and probably many Germans were among these civilians !
So as not to offend the Greeks, we are complicating matters
for ourselves. In our present relations why should we
stand on such ceremony with our ex-friends ?
This afternoon I went to Bournadzu to establish a
dressing station. There, at least, there is less mud. There
are huge, free, uncultivated spaces. It is the most splendid
battlefield one can imagine. In the distance one gets a
hazy idea of Salonika and a glimpse of the sea, which is
sprinkled with a quantity of boats.
I did enjoy my visit to Salonika, but I kept trying to
imagine that you had kept to your plan and come there
to meet your ever loving TOE
RETREAT AND RETURN 253
December 20.
MY DEAREST ONE,
I am literally overwhelmed. I have a hundred letters
to get through with, and I only write to you ! But how
is it that you wait so long without news from me ? It is
a mystery to me. Don't believe for an instant, dear,
divine little thing, that I am in any way to blame. Above
all, don't quarrel with me, for I love so much the music of
your letters.
Ever since I have been in Topsin I have sent you every
day a long registered letter. Go to Paris, but don't
fatigue yourself ! I have just been reading your letter of
November 29. I am touched, even to tears, to know that
my dear little wife has spoken of me and my deeds to little
English schoolgirls. As a lecturer you must have been
wonderful. I would have loved to hear you, just as I now
wish to have good news of you, for I think of you more and
more. I cannot bear to think of the time which has elapsed
since our parting.
I have also in front of me letters from you of December 4
and 5. The latter gives evidence of preoccupation about
my health which my letters and my telegram should by
now have dissipated. I am much more healthy than I
was in Paris. I must really have a strong constitution.
I have not yet received your parcel of warm things, but
I have everything that I need. The Koutzo-Valaques
have sold me socks which are marvellous for keeping one's
feet warm ; and now my stove works well. What a pity
that it makes me weep like the most tragic of dramas !
Did that dear, delicious little queen, the blonde ex-Miss
G., receive the Bulgarian epaulette I sent her ? In
snatching it from a ferocious warrior I hope I gave proof
of the troubling emotion which her fair, cold beauty
caused me.
254 UNCENSORED LETTERS
I congratulate you upon the amount of money you have
saved. But, dear one, do buy yourself a watch bracelet
or a nice fur.
How wise you were not to insist upon coming to Salonika !
But if you had come you would have been able, I believe,
to make extremely interesting studies there. As for me,
I cannot see half as much nor as well as you do.
I have just finished an album of sketches. I will send
them at the first opportunity, as well as your silver belt-
buckle. Meanwhile I may tell you for your private ear
that there is only one woman at Topsin, and that it is I
who attend her. There is no need to bring out your great
play of jealousy. I am not in the least in love with her.
*' That is astonishing," I hear you say.
Did you receive the case sent from Sedd-el-Bahr ? It
is said here that Gallipoli is going to be evacuated. I
cannot believe it. It would be too cruel.
Good-bye, dear one.
Love from your JOE.
December 21.
DEAR ONE,
We seem fixed at Topsin for some time to come. We
are settling down. The " Service de Sante," which is so
often neglected, will be well lodged and well provisioned
here. With a little more diplomatic ruse I shall get hold
of the Director's pavilion.
In the meantime I stick to my garret — the rats' refuge.
If we can outwit Ferdinand's Bulgarians, surely we can
outwit rats. I am having the place whitewashed, and
panes put in the windows.
I have succeeded in stabling my horses with the bull of
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the farm. Luckily he is a peaceable animal. Birama
strokes him, saying, " Him very fat ; him good to eat."
My horses deserve to be well treated ; they have been
so splendid. To-day I took them to go to Bournadzu,
where No. 4 dressing station is being established. The
Divisionary Stretcher-bearer Corps is camping beside it.
Later I went on to see the first-line trenches. They were
only five kilometres off, but the ground was so bad that
every footstep was an effort, almost a pain. I hated im-
posing such a task on my dear horses ; but I wanted to
see things for myself.
I was filled with admiration for our work. We have
already two lines of well-made trenches with barbed wire,
etc. I must not describe it. ... And we have only just
arrived. Really the French are astonishing ! But what
is the state of the future defenders of the trenches ?
Last night there were heavy showers, thunder and
lightning — all the elements are against us ! The ground
in the front lines is a moving, drifting quagmire.
And, unheardrof paradox, there is no drinking water !
I saw a soldier to-day take water in his mug from a hole
in the ground made by a horse-shoe ! I spoke to him.
He had not seen me come up. He confessed that it had an
earthy taste.
Our men do not complain. They are standing the strain
well, and just now there are few sick. What is going to
happen ? Our armies deserve victory a hundred times.
I cannot believe that anywhere else in the world there is
so much military resignation and so much bravery. Where,
then, are all our calculations wrong ? . . .
I went the whole length of our front, and I also visited
No. 3 dressing station. I must have done at least thirty
kilometres. It was quite dark when I arrived back. The
ground was fearful from beginning to end. Imagine the
256 UNCENSORED LETTERS
difficulties of transports and supplies. Of course no roads
have ever existed.
On our way home the sun, just before sinking, was
shining feebly. The rays were pale yellow, like smoke.
They hardly reflected any colour on the pools of water at
our feet.
Then suddenly there was an explosion of brilliant pinks
and reds. The immense valley of the Vardar emerged
from the mists, and its inundated plains brilliantly reflected
all the colours of the dying day. Was it an apotheosis
which measured the size of our tomb ? It is indeed a
formidable space capable of stifling the cries of agony of an
army. On us, on our splendid fellows of Frantc .the sun
shed marvellous roses till darkness set in.
This morning at about 9 o'clock before I left Topsin I
saw General Castelnau. He stepped out of his car just
beneath my windows. He was wearing his red and gold
kepi. He is small, but looks active and energetic. His
feet, in light brown boots, tried to find places where they
would not sink too deeply into the mud ! . . . Good-night,
from him who goes to dream of you ! T
December 23.
MY VERY DEAR WlFE,
I have just seen a number of IS Illustration, in which
there are some of my letters and photographs. I won't
deny that this has given me amazing pleasure. But, above
all, I love you so much for the laurels you twine for me,
for the surprises of infinite delicacy which you devise.
Dear, how much I love you for loving me so much ! It
seems to me that I have lost time all my life in not cherish-
ing you enough. Yet since the day when my eyes first
saw you, since I had of you that first, fugitive vision, my
FRENCH SOLDIERS CAMPING IN THE MUD AT MODIANO FARM.
A CONVOY OF SUPPLIES FOR TOPSIN STUCK IN THE MUD.
B1RAMA AND THE DOCTOR'S HORSES IN A STREAM NEAR
BUNARDZA.
A STONE BRIDGE WITH SARCOPHAGUS ON THE JENIDSA-VARDAR
ROAD.
RETREAT AND RETURN 257
heart has been centred upon that memory — a fragile,
slight apparition.
I recall the first smile of your eyes and the infinitely
soft music of your first words, the floating of your school-
girl's frock, the vaporous meshes of your fine hair. Since
then our love has dashed itself against all the obstacles of
life to the illimitable edges of the world. Now we love
each other more than ever, for we are elect among all ; and
between us there has been created a force stronger than
exile, stronger than the horrors of war, more living than
time and space.
My granary-chamber is transformed this evening into
a sumptuous palace where I await the queen. Perfumes
and flowers, songs and music. What matters death ? what
matter silence and solitude ? I wait for you !
I don't know what to give you for Christmas. Will you
buy yourself something which will give you pleasure, and tell
me what it is.
I sent you a telegram after our retreat from Serbia. I
gave it in charge of the doctor at Salonika. I am sure he
sent it, though he forgot to tell me if he did. To-day I am
sending you another cablegram. I hope this will reassure
you.
The Surgeon-General of the Army came to-day to Topsin.
He had informed me beforehand by telegram of his inten-
tion to inspect the different sections of my division. We
mounted our horses at 10 o'clock. The roads are a little
less dreadful, because yesterday and to-day there has
been a violent wind to dry them up. Besides this,
the weather was warm with sunshine, and smiling with
light.
We had lunch at field dressing station No. 3 at Vatiluk.
Our chief is very popular, so this was a family meal
where currents of deep sympathy flowed.
258 UNCENSORED LETTERS
He wished to see the first-line trenches. Like me, he
was amazed at work so well and so rapidly done upon
this ungrateful soil, where, with all the enthusiasm worn
out of them after their retreat, French soldiers have made
so marvellous a line of defence. What a pity that I am
not allowed to describe their work to you !
It is said that the Bulgarians and the Austro-Germans
are preparing to cross the Greek frontier. What will
happen to us when they do ? We will defend ourselves
with all our might.
Good-bye, dearest, well beloved, much cherished.
Kisses from your JOE.
December 24.
DEAREST ONE,
Christmas Eve ! I had promised faithfully to go to
Salonika to-day and celebrate Christmas with the family
of whom I have so often spoken ; but I only got back to
Topsin after dark, and it was impossible even to think of
escaping. Luckily I was able to telephone to them. So
I am all alone ! My garret has been emptied of all the
maize which blocked it up. It is almost decent.
For Christmas I have lighted seven candles. They
spread a solemn, church-like atmosphere and light around
my hearth. When Birama came in just now he burst out
laughing. Birama is not only Senegalese, he is also
Mussulman. What a pity he did not understand and kneel
down instead of laughing !
It is, however, Christmas, and I wished my tapers to
burn all together to remind me of it. How many Christ-
mases have been celebrated by men, and yet the world is
as ferocious and cruel as ever. Jesus told us to love one
another. Assassination and massacre are still held in
honour. . . . Laurels, poets' verses, women's desires still
RETREAT AND RETURN 259
go to assassins and murderers. What madness attacks
men and changes them into beasts ?
To-day was held a review of the troops for the presenta-
tion of crosses and medals. The head doctor of No. 4
dressing station received the Legion of Honour. The
ceremony was held near the village of Bunardza on a green
plateau which dominated the whole country-side.
A blue belt of mountains limited our horizon in the infi-
nite distance. Our eyes, dazzled, read in our surroundings
the history that we are making with our blood and the
legends and stories that rise up from our dreams. Olympus,
clothed with divine snow, and Salonika, emerging from
the sea — a beautiful sultana guarded by battleships, whose
splendid nudity breaks through the meshes of guns and
bayonets.
The troops march past. It is a solemn moment. Here
are the soldiers who have beaten a retreat before the
Bulgarians. Will there ever be a more glorious retreat ?
We felt inclined to applaud these men, so splendid we
found them. Not a single member of anybody's family
is present — only Olympus and his gods look on.
Evening comes. The nearest hills are visited by the
violet shadows of night. Elsewhere it is a dark-blue
atmosphere, which vanishes into a furnace of incandescent
flame. Even with darkness there are still fiery rays.
I put " Golden " to a trot. The ground had dried a
little with the violent wind which we have had these last
days, and we both enjoyed the quick movement and the
wide space.
This is my Christmas Eve, and now it is past mid-
night.
A merry Christmas to my darling so far away and so
longed for by her devoted HUSBAND
2<5o UNCENSORED LETTERS
December 26.
DEAREST WIFE,
I had made up my mind at the beginning of the week
that if yesterday (Christmas Day) was fine I would spend it
in seeing new country, and especially the distant town of
Jenidza Vardar (Jannia), which is about thirty kilometres
from Topsin. I had heard also that Pella, the Macedonian
capital of Philip, and Alar, the country of Alexander the
Great, were near there.
It is impossible to make certain of anything, as we have
not a single book here. . . . Oh, Father Christmas, will
you prepare delightful surprises for me ? I beg of you. I
have had no pleasures lately, and I should like that better
than anything.
The General came into my room at 8 o'clock, and invited
me to a Christmas lunch to-day or to-morrow. I chose
to-morrow.
Birama had looked after my horses well, and we left
Topsin at 10 o'clock. We rode along the bank of the Vardar
till we came to a big, long wooden bridge, very uneven and
leaning over on one side. The ferocious whirlpools of
yellow water below were rather terrifying. The horses
were frightened. French and Greek sentinels guarded the
bridge.
After riding across inundated country, and over a num-
ber of wretched broken-down bridges which are no longer
protected against the inundations, we stopped at Jajladzik,
as I wanted to photograph the church and the surrounding
houses.
The road from here rises out of the plain and crosses a
hill. We came upon some of our brave fellows who were
filling their carts with great blocks of stone. I talked
with them. They knew nothing of the country beyond
the hill opposite and the quarry.
RETREAT AND RETURN 261
It is just one immense desert, with a whitish ribbon cross-
ing it. Not a house, not a shelter, not a tree. There are,
however, small pieces of cultivated land. The same
uniform tone everywhere. The horizon on our left is
silhouetted with indistinct mountains. Later, when the
sun shone out, Mount Vernion and Mount Karatas hung
in the limpid atmosphere, a garland of snow flowers.
On nearing Jenidza Vardar, the goal of our pilgrimage,
the Pajak was a triangle of divine blue mounting from the
earth into the heavens.
Our horses hastened along the interminable road.
Desert solitude, not a soul. At last somebody approached.
It was a veiled woman on horseback, who was crying. The
horse was so weak that it could hardly drag itself along.
Another horse behind, led by its master, fell down just as
we came up to it. It was carrying such a heavy load.
We helped the Turk pick up his horse, the woman mean-
while crying harder than ever.
We left the high road to visit Pella, more to the north,
which was the capital of Macedonia under Philip. There
is no trace of a town at the point marked on my map, and
we continued by a path leading to the village of Alakilise.
There I saw the stone blocks of some ancient building.
Close by we met a woman carrying a jar full of water on
her head. A little girl of five or six was holding her hand.
Big black eyes shone out of a face really quite expressive
and beautiful. Her costume of brilliant scarlet was ren-
dered even more vivid by the sun. Filigrams of gold
adorned the short skirt and the bolero. A red pair of
trousers showed underneath the skirt. She disappeared
slowly, with elbow high and hips undulating under their
ardent red.
Musicians then surrounded us, playing with pipes and
drums. They were a gipsy band. As we approached the
262 UNCENSORED LETTERS
village the sounds of music attracted attention, and soon
the road and banks above it were full of people.
We came to a fountain where village women and girls
were rilling their jars. I looked for the first apparition,
but I did not see her again. I had sent Birama out of the
way so as not to frighten these pretty jar-bearers, and
advanced alone.
The fairy-like scene continued for my benefit. Round
the fountain, with its sculptured stones and in a limpid
atmosphere, the gipsy girls, dressed as for a fete, laughed
and danced. Some had their hair down their backs, a
bunch of tawny gold on the red material of their costumes.
In a country where women are veiled and hide themselves,
what an enchanting spectacle under the free sun of a
Christmas Day !
Then we continued on our road. We came to a place
where there were vestiges of a tower in the middle of the
fields. Was this the village of Alar, where Alexander the
Great was born ? There were some quite beautiful ruins
still left standing, but of course nobody could enlighten
us as to their origin.
We began to feel that the road was long and we tried to
take a short cut by the fields. Our horses were tired. They
had only rested while we took a rapid meal at Alar.
At last at the top of a hill we distinguished Jenidza
Vardar against the blue background of the Pajak. It
abounds in a past splendour, in quantities of ruins which
have never been repaired. The roads are paved Turkish
fashion, as in old Salonika. Our horses' feet resounded.
People came out of their houses, and a crowd followed
and surrounded us. They were quite friendly, and the
children pressed close. I gave them chocolate, which they
greatly appreciated.
They did not mind being photographed ; in fact, the
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women wanted it, and in the end they went and fetched a
professional photographer, who made us sit for him in front
of the crowd !
One part of the village which we passed through was full
of Greek soldiers. They saluted us respectfully. Then
we crossed to the Turkish quarter and there visited the
mosque. It is of remarkable construction, and is majesti-
cally imposing. The very high minaret has a royal appear-
ance.
But it was late, and we had to return to Topsin. In the
distance Jenidza Vardar is very beautiful, with its minarets
standing out against the blues of the mountain.
We returned in complete darkness, longing for the moon
to rise. . . . Our horses were so tired that we stopped at
an extraordinary sort of inn near Jajladzik to eat our
dinner. Fortunately we did not need anything from the
innkeeper.
It was after 10 when we arrived in Topsin.
And now I have written it all down, my Christmas Day,
for my dear wife to see. Bless her ! j
December 27.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
Please don't write that you never have any letters, that
you are losing patience. I get so nervous about you that
it makes me ill. They must have stopped all our corre-
spondence. In one lot of our letters there is enough
heroism to console the whole of France.
What imbecility ! What methods worthy of the brutal
inquisition ! You who are courageous imagine that I have
been wounded. Think then of the old peasant woman
who has her letters read to her by the little fair-haired
child on her way home from school. What must she have
264 UNCENSORED LETTERS
been thinking as she waits for news of her son ? There
must be some madness in high places. The people of
France have indeed the temper of martyrs as well as of
warriors. Why can they not have faith in them ?
Above all, dear one, don't depart from that strength of
moral endurance which you have equally with the greatest
and the most glorious. And since I am sure that you are
brave, how could I fail to be so ?
We had quantities of letters and parcels to-day. There
were fourteen or fifteen sacks to distribute. Thank you
for the films and the plum pudding.
Everybody is congratulating me about the pictures in
L 'Illustration.
I received to-day your letter of the I4th December. At
last you have some letters from me. Don't be discouraged.
Perhaps they will all arrive.
Make a note of the registered ones. There are a good
many. I have written you every day a letter or a post-
card, with a long letter every two or three days.
The letter you have had about me from General d'Amade
is as good as a title of nobility. I am very proud.
J.
December 28.
DEAR HEART,
I went a long ride to-day along our lines, and visited my
No. 4 dressing station and the commander of the X.
Brigade at Bunardza. A great many refugees are there.
A young Greek girl was holding a large class for the children.
She showed me over the schoolhouse. I expressed to her
my great admiration of Antigone. . . . She was fair, and
looked very resolute and intelligent.
The weather is ideal, warm and radiant. All the grain
RETREAT AND RETURN 265
has been removed from my barn, but the rats and fleas
have remained ! All the same, I am very lucky to have
such a shelter.
Tell me quickly that you are hearing from me again, and
that we are at least united by that thing invented by
gods and lovers — a letter.
December 30.
To-day I had a visitor from Salonika, Monsieur R. His
wife and sister-in-law were not able to come. I also re-
ceived your parcel from Hope Brothers containing marvels.
But you think, then, that the war is going to last several
winters !
The ground is drying. The English at once perceived
this, and yesterday the first motor car showed itself on the
Topsin roads. It was a heavy English motor lorry. That
was only a trial ; and to-day it was a heavy British
artillery waggon, towed by an auto with caterpillar wheels,
which was sublime in its monster strength. A good lesson
and example for our Greek friends.
A new event to-day for Topsin ! A flight of German
Aviatiks threw down six bombs 400 or 500 metres from the
Headquarters. There was a great noise, but I stupidly
attributed it to our own firing.
To-day there is the most magnificent sunshine that we
have had since our arrival at Topsin. It is warm and
brilliant, and is revealing an unknown world to us. The
mountains, at last disengaged from the deceiving veils of
rainy mists, stand out splendidly in all their sculptural
beauty.
The miracle of light has increased immensely the extent
of our vision. It rests on the unlimited blue slopes of the
mountain, which, in the places covered with snow, is tinged
with red.
266 UNCENSORED LETTERS
In the course of my service inspection I visited the
church of Vatiluk, the walls of which are covered with
frescoes like most churches here. Heaven, Hell, and the
Last Judgment are the subjects most often treated. The
Beatitude of the Elect gives one no desire to join them ;
but as to Hell, it makes one tremble ! One feels that there
the artist was in his element, and that he did not
lack models.
There was in these frescoes a sadic refinement of cruelty
worthy of an Asiatic. Women only were tortured !
Bless you, Beloved ! TOE
December 31.
DEAREST,
To-day nothing extraordinary has happened. Not even
a letter ; only a simple postcard. Yesterday I sent you a
long letter and the belt-buckle from the Koutzo-Valaque
girl.
I was talking to-day with the head of the army posts. I
told him that you had been for a whole month without a
letter. He said it was probably due to the censor at
Marseilles or the censor in England.
But I have always before me this brutal fact. My wife
has been for thirty days without news of me. She may
even yet be again tortured in this fashion by the imbecility
of Mr. Something-or-other of the censorship. When will
Man become enamoured of the Truth because she is naked,
always natural and unadorned ?
I am much affected by these infamies which have
become everyday occurrences, but don't worry. I will
recover my equanimity.
RETREAT AND RETURN 267
I need not go far to find admirable examples. There is
an officer here who has had no news of his family since the
beginning of the campaign. His wife and little daughters
are at Lille. There is a general who has performed feats
of arms sufficient to glorify all his brigade, but they have
not dreamed of giving him even the Croix de Guerre.
When I worry about my promotion I can't help
thinking of my poor comrades, who are nearly all dead.
They have accomplished prodigious feats, yet no one will
even know their names.
I could imagine myself in the sunshine of Nice ; yet in
sober truth we are in Greece, and not among friends.
I should have gone this afternoon to Durmutsu, but I
took with me a companion on my ride, who diverted me
from my purpose. To-morrow I shall go without fail to
lunch with Colonel Ruef, who has often invited me. He is
one of my most faithful patients. I have attended him
since last March.
These last moments of the year which is ending are
devoted to you, dear wife, in my granary-chamber at the
farm. I meditate on the past, and think only of you. My
wishes, my thoughts, and my love are all yours. We will
stick together in 1916 ; we will struggle on even to the end.
Good-bye, darlingest, well-beloved. Send word quickly
that you receive my letters, and let us at least be united
in a communion of souls.
Love from your JOE.
January I, 1916.
MY DEAREST WIFE,
To-day, to begin the New Year, I had two letters from
you. Am I not spoilt ? Round about me the songs are
too noisy, the joy a little too Bacchic.
268 UNCENSORED LETTERS
How is it possible to avoid reviewing the past when one
is at the last leaf of the calendar ? Oh, for two minutes'
sight of your adored face, your eyes sparkling with fine
intelligence, windows to a clear conscience ; oh, for my
favourite spot on your throat where my lips become
entangled with your hair ; for an intoxicating caress, the
memory of which would fill long nights !
You speak of leave for me or that trip to Salonika for
you. There can be no question of your coming to Salonika.
The bombs from aeroplanes have settled that. There is
now a franker atmosphere of war here.
I accept much more willingly the idea of leave for me.
If we are not to be attacked here upon the Salonika front
for a month or two I will certainly ask for leave, but with-
out hope of returning. I am impatient to see the real
front in France and to compare the two.
Dear, dear Wife, — I feel I have already struggled
enough upon these distant battle lines and have wrestled
with all my strength and all my brain too far from
you. I must find means of coming nearer.
I am very anxious to know what General d'Amade has
said to you. He is by far the finest soldier I have ever
seen.
I am wearing the magnificent " warm things " you have
sent, making experiments with each, for to-day it is again
less cold.
I imagine that you are again in Paris for some days. If
it were only possible to join you there ; but I have no idea
what is going to become of us here. Hope, dear one,
hope !
Mille tendr esses!
Your JOE.
RETREAT AND RETURN 269
January 4.
ADORED WIFE,
A very strong wind all day to-day will at least have
the advantage of drying our marshy soil at Topsin. I
thought at times that it would blow away " Golden,"
me and my steel helmet. It was really not disagree-
able, because there was something thrilling and new
about it.
Not an aeroplane in the sky to-day, not even a tiny
bomb. The whole situation grows less and less military.
Trench work continues round the farm. We fortify our-
selves in these historic battle grounds that are saturated
with the blood of ancient warriors.
Yesterday there was a great review — again for one of
my doctors from an African Zouave regiment. It is the
second cross which I have obtained for my doctors since
Strumnitza. I am very proud. They are indeed fine
soldiers !
A probable movement of our division either to
Syria or to Egypt is much talked of here. We shall
know in a few days. But what is there to regret at
Topsin ?
For a moment I had desired to be with all my heart at
Salonika. It seemed to me full of colour, alive, very Oriental.
I remember so well our first interview — the sultana awaken-
ing in the dawn on the shore of a blue sea. . . .
Someone has just interrupted me. I don't know where
I was. I have to answer so many stupid questions. I
have deserted my sultana.
I am exceedingly well. I never felt so full of spirits and
so self-confident. But, dear one, if I get leave I will fly to
you, or you will come to Egypt. Patience, confidence !
I embrace you with all my heart.
Love from your JOE.
2jQ UNCENSORED LETTERS
January 7.
DEAREST,
I have just come back from Salonika, where I remained
for twenty-four hours. I stayed with my friends. The
German aeroplanes came again this morning in a terrible
wind.
To-day it is really cold. No one knows what is going
to become of us. We are building very solid fortifications.
I keep very well, but should not be at all sorry to make a
trip to France.
I met this morning at Salonika a lady of the Red Cross,
Madame d'A., who has brought out an enormous supply
of hospital equipment and medicines. Perhaps we shall
get some of all those luxuries.
To-morrow we are going to bury the best-beloved
Colonel of the whole Army of the Orient. He was with
us at Strumnitza, and during the retreat from there his
regiment was terribly punished.
On the 4th I went to see him. I made the trip especially
to see him in a hurricane of wind which would have
stopped me under any other circumstances. When I
arrived he was asleep. His orderly Jerome did not wish
to wake him. I also should have wished to leave him
asleep, but he called me back suddenly.
I was struck by his lifeless face and by his strange cough.
He was evidently a lost man, but still it was necessary to
do something for him at once. So next day he was taken
by motor car, not to the hospital in Salonika, but to the
first ship ready to sail for France.
He died on board yesterday. He will see France no
more. His wife and his children will wait for him in vain.
He was a man absolutely adored by his regiment. We
all loved him very much. He had a good heart, full of
kindness. He was gentle, and at the same time very
RETREAT AND RETURN 271
energetic. Indulgent to unimportant faults, he accepted
no excuse in matters of honour or of duty.
Well made, with a searching glance, a military
moustache over full lips, he was a warrior born, beautiful
as a cavalier of olden days.
For him his men accomplished marvels. They braved
death, they remained at their posts in spite of heat, in
spite of cold, with frozen feet, with limbs bruised by shot
and shell. He inspired untold acts of devotion and
courage.
One morning during a battle I went to see him at Rabrovo.
He made me stay to lunch, and treated me to a surprise
concert. In Serbia, at a time so troubled, when
even existence was uncertain, he had found means to
create a band. He wished to show me the progress they
had made. I was the sole auditor. They played the
regimental march which had just been composed by their
leader.
The other day I was describing the retreat from Serbia
in the salon of our friends in Salonika, and spoke of the
valour of Colonel Nautille, of his admirable devotion to
his work, of his fine spirit, so profoundly human. One
little lady in the company — the prettiest — cried out
spontaneously, " I should like to kiss your Colonel." I
told this to the Colonel. I think he was pleased.
Now this fine soldier sleeps for ever. He lies cold on his
deathbed, where no gentle lips came at the last moment to
give him a farewell kiss. His loss to the army is
irreparable. They are going to hide him from our sight ;
they will fold in the earth a man who had, above all
others, the secret of courage.
I went to-day to Bunardza. You already know the
place. The scene was more marvellous than ever, the
atmosphere warm and delicately tinted. Salonika, in the
272 UNCENSORED LETTERS
distance, seated between her terraced mountains and the
sea, laughed in the sunshine.
It was Christmas Day in the Orthodox Church. All
the villagers were dressed in their best clothes. In one
little corner they were dancing to the sound of a cornet.
For once in this country I saw young men and maids
amusing themselves together. They held each other by
the hands, and danced an animated farandole — the boys
at one end, the girls at the other. The girl in the centre
of the line held a boy by the hand. This evocation of
ancient mysteries upon a soil so long denatured by the
Turks was far from displeasing. It was indeed Noel !
" Golden " is divine. He carried me this afternoon at
a splendid pace. In the distance Salonika melted away
into the blues of incense and of dreams.
Good-bye, dear little wife.
Your JOE.
January 10.
MY VERY DEAR WlFE,
For eight days there have been no letters from you.
There must have been posts, for I have had a letter from
Pierre, and another from a comrade doctor in France.
I hear that N. is still on the Riviera convalescing.
By now he should be as well as I am. They tell us that
this campaign is going to last. Each one arranges it
according to his own calculation. Many shorten it as they
wish ; others have not yet begun it. Let us remain to the
end with those who take it as it is.
Yesterday I was in Salonika. I always come back a
little blue and envious. One sees there so many beauties,
of which there is a horrible lack here. The hardest thing
in war is to live always among brutes, among men.
FRENCH SOLI'IEKS IN THKIR BULLET PROOF HELMETS AT A
REVIEW.
REVIEW OK TROOPS AT BUNARDZA, NEAR TOl'SIN, TO
DISTRIBUTE MEDALS AND CROSSES ON CHRISTMAS EVE.
RETREAT AND RETURN 273
Again to-day we had a very violent wind. I was hardly
safe upon my horse. It was also very cold. Still I take
great pleasure in going among the field ambulances to meet
and talk with my doctors.
I have established bonds of sympathy with them all.
Some of them like me very much. I am very proud of
this, because there are so few chiefs who know how to make
themselves loved. I did not believe this of myself, for I
always imagined that I lacked warmth.
You would like to see the charming letters I sometimes
receive from doctors who go away ! I can scarcely believe
that I have merited such good opinions.
I am now dressed entirely in khaki. Have I told you this
before ? Korka has inherited my blue trousers, Birama
my jacket. I have a khaki cap and gaiters. The only
blue which remains is my bomb-proof helmet and my
overcoat.
If I can find an intelligent photographer I will have
myself photographed in khaki. Have you ever received a
photograph of me on horseback in my steel helmet ?
Also, did you receive one of my room at Strumnitza
Station ?
When are you going to send me a pretty photograph of
yourself ? Martha writes that you have become so pink
and fresh since I am not there to plague you that you are
like a sweet delicate flower.
Not a bomb to-day — nothing. We begin to ask if we
shall ever be attacked at Salonika. We wonder what is
going to happen. All leave is stopped for the moment ;
but I promise you to keep an eye on this matter, which now
interests me more than anything else.
A thousand kisses for my dear little wife.
Your JOE.
W.L,
274 UNCENSORED LETTERS
January 12.
DEAREST ONE,
I hear it said that all Gallipoli, including Sedd-el-Bahr,
has been evacuated. I cannot believe it. If it were true
it would cause me deep pain.
This afternoon I crossed the Galliko on horseback.
The ford was difficult. " Golden," however, found it so
much to his liking that he wanted to lie down in it.
Birama cried out to me " Look out ! " and fortunately
I understood.
I sent you to-day a sketch of the famous frescoes at
Vatiluk — the torture of women in Hell. Also a film which
a comrade has given me. The hypo must be washed out
of it. As for the other film, it is of three Bulgarian women
or girls whom I photographed on the day of the Orthodox
Christmas in their best attire.
My room has become respectable enough to bring forth
your picture as a chorister. You are now before me.
January 13.
Still no letter from you ! None since January I, which
now makes thirteen days.
There is a strong wind, and the cold is intense after days
which were spring-like. Do send me a long letter soon,
also a stylo or a fountain pen which will write.
Love from your JOE.
January 14.
Still no letter from you since January I. I hope this is
not going to continue ; but how can I help being upset ?
This afternoon when I returned from my ride I was quite
chilled. I sat down near my friendly stove, which gene-
RETREAT AND RETURN 275
rously gave out its warmth. I fell into a delicious torpor.
I closed my eyes.
I could see you so well. I spoke with you very softly.
My litanies go out daily to you — prayers which you receive
perhaps in the night when other voices are silent, when
the noises which disturb have died down.
Yesterday, with the head of the hospital service, I went
to inspect the cantonments and bivouacs at Durmutzu and
Dogandzi. One cannot see whence the enemy is to come
across a broad plain, only slightly undulating, naked and
without colour, save the vague blue of distant mountains
crowned with snow.
Yet while we were there a bomb fell. Three Greek
soldiers who were guarding the railway were wounded.
One has since died. Another, wounded, was placed in one
of our divisional field ambulances under my eyes.
When next you go to Hampstead, please buy me a stylo
at the shop my others came from, and send me some tablets
of ink made for these pens. There is no longer any English
ink at Salonika. It is high time that Salonika ceased to
be so Austro-German.
I am sending you two photographs of myself taken by
the head doctor of field ambulance No. 3. You will, I think,
like them. In one I am just going to sketch the frescoes
at Vatiluk ; in the other I am talking with my comrades.
How are you, dear little wife ? I embrace you with all
mX heart- Your JOE.
January 16.
MY VERY DEAR WlFE,
How is it that I still have no letters ? I am trying to be
calm and courageous ; who but you can understand how I
am suffering ?
276 UNCENSORED LETTERS
After a day of rain and whirlwind we have again enjoyed
a welcome bit of sunshine ; but the wind is returning. I
did well to put on my woollen helmet, for my face and all
my head were frozen.
The sky was clear blue and cloudless. The neighbouring
mountains, the Hortaels,which encircle Salonika, shone with a
dazzling whiteness. It became colder and colder. The ground
was freezing. I hurried back. We went at a great pace
when Birama and his horse fell in a heap. Birama was
hurt ; and it was necessary to call an ambulance. For-
tunately one passed, and I gave the order. He will only
be laid up for a few days.
In this packet you will find photographs which I have
developed. I have had a letter from Madame Miraben.
She has repeated to me Marcelle Tinayre's praise of my
letters which you have published. I am very apprecia-
tive, though it is you, dear, and you alone, who are the
inspiration.
I have written all this with your new steel pen. It
promises to go better.
People now believe that we shall never be attacked at
Salonika. If that is true, they can let some of us go on
leave. I have promised you to be among the first, and
nothing shall interfere with that plan.
Au revoir, dearest wife. If I only had a letter from you
I should be happy.
Thousands and thousands of kisses from
Your JOE.
January 17.
To-day arrived a lovely lot of French and English papers.
They were addressed in your hand. That is at least a
RETREAT AND RETURN 277
good sign. I hope to have many letters to-morrow. It
is high time. How pleased I shall be ; no longer anxious !
January 18.
At last, Beloved, I have a letter from you ! But I am
not yet fully reassured. You have been ill — more ill than
you say, since not until the 3rd January did you post a
letter written on the 28th December.
At first I was so foolishly happy at reading lines from
you, speaking as you speak, that I did not reflect. I was
like a child who could not have many thoughts at one
moment. Reassure me completely !
I beg you never to get up until the fire in your room is
well alight. I forbid you to run about in omnibuses and
tubes. Take taxis. Have you good boots when it rains
and good warm stockings ? You have never had enough
patience to gargle well when you have a sore throat. Do
it, I beg you, for my sake.
Buy yourself some good furs. Let it be my present for
our twelfth anniversary.
You write to me now about letters of December 8 and
the retreat from Serbia. It seems to me that we have
been always at Topsin — here for centuries. Oh, that
retreat !
Yes, we came out of it well, as it might have been a
horrible disaster. The Bulgars principally attacked the right
wing — the Doiran route from Kosturino, where the English
were. They showed us little of their bravado. Our
regiments, surrounded at night in the mountains, were
able to extricate themselves without serious loss.
To-day I went with Dr. Leveuf to see Alakilise again,
the Pella of Philip of Macedon and of Alexander the
Great. There were no longer the pretty gipsies of Christmas
278 UNCENSORED LETTERS
Day, nor the clarionets and drums to attract them into the
open air.
We saw, however, the fountain where the young girls
come for fresh water in their pitchers. I had put into my
pocket some of your Christmas crackers which contained
bits of jewellery. How delighted they were !
One beauty posed for me. Would she not like a bracelet
of pearls which came out of the cracker ? I wished to place
the light toy on her wrist, but the wrist, already round and
solid, was unwilling to be fettered. The thread broke,
scattering the pearls. Great consternation !
We rode through the village, and took charming views
of the weaving, of the making of maize bread. There are
some excavations at Pella. You will receive one of these
days a little bit of pottery. Don't laugh. You can say
that it comes from Pella. I chose it myself.
A great stretch of country is littered with ruins of
pottery. At the excavations themselves there are un-
covered tombs and baths, which are quite well preserved.
One beautiful fountain, which doubtless remains from the
epoch of Philip and Alexander, rises from the ruins of a
tesselated pavement. I have an excellent photograph of
it, as you will see. There is something written on the
fountain ; ask your father to decipher it and send it to me.
I feel inclined myself to make some little excavations and
explore the ruins better.
I have also to tell you that your crackers gave great joy
to two little girls who were pretty enough to eat — five and
seven years old, with red cheeks, dressed in scarlet, roguish,
very dainty. They held me by the hand to make the tour
of the village, and frightened away dogs who barked too
loudly.
Good-bye, dearest love. Don't be too long without
writing to Your JOSEPH.
RETREAT AND RETURN 279
January 19.
MY WELL-BELOVED WlFE,
I have just received your letter of the gth and nth
January. You have been more ill than your magnificent
courage would let you say. I am impatient to learn that
you are absolutely cured, and that you again feel quite
fit.
Now it seems that your ideas have completely changed.
I have admitted in principle that I shall apply for leave.
I wish to go on leave, both because I feel the need of it and
because I want to please you. Also while there is nothing
doing here some of us could well be spared.
You are chagrined because you are losing time and doing
no war work. There is only one thing which counts, that
is your health. Your little person, one little, tiny piece of
your precious self, is worth more to me than all the war
work in the world.
To-morrow I am going to Salonika. I will then tele-
graph to you about my leave. I will not say anything
more about my promotion. I wish to do my duty without
any idea of reward. I am proud to be able to say to my
conscience that I have done all that I could do. What
others say matters little.
At the same time, I am very proud, for instance, of the
expressions of esteem which have been given to you by
General d'Amade, that fine soldier.
I ;'
January 22.
I have telegraphed from Salonika : " Patience ; applied
for leave." This afternoon at 6 General Bailloud sent
forward my request for eight days' leave in Paris " with
favourable endorsement." Have I not kept my word ?
You see, darling, I do as you wish. If I no longer had
you in my life I should not know what to live for. You
28o UNCENSORED LETTERS
are everything to me. I have read your last letter more
than ten times. My mind centres upon one thing : " Is
she ill ? " You tell me so little. Dr. M. has written
without mentioning you. I am horribly upset all the same.
Darling, darling, if now the Generalissimo should not
let me go ! Still I don't think they can stop me. You
can depend upon my doing everything I can to get
away.
Thousands and thousands of kisses for my dear wife
from JOE
January 25.
MY DEAREST ONE,
I have learned nothing new to-day. There must be a
decision before long. If, as I suppose, it is favourable, I
will cable you, and will take the first steamer leaving. In
case my request is rejected, I will demand an audience
here from General Sarrail. I beg you to be patient. I
will do all that is humanly possible to be by your side with
the least possible delay.
My determination is irrevocable. Count upon me, very
dear wife. Nothing else means anything to me. If you
could see in my heart what the image of your face bathed
in tears had blotted out ! I would give the whole universe
to stop your tears and your troubles. At your first strong
call I am coming. Your imperative tone upset me. I
have yielded to your tears !
You are right not to wish that we should be in Paris.
We will go, for instance, to Nice. I shall be very badly
dressed in military khaki. Perhaps you could bring me
a complete civilian outfit. Or, rather, I will order
a chic military costume such as the " embusques "
wear at home ! That would be a great joke !
RETREAT AND RETURN 281
Soon, soon, very dear wife. I am upon red coals of
impatience. A thousand million kisses.
Your JOE.
January 26.
I wrote you yesterday. Each day without fail I will
give you news, especially as I know you are anxious.
Yesterday I wrote a letter — to-day a simple postcard.
Our postal service is very irregular. I receive three or
four copies of Le Temps at once, but the address in your
dear writing is admirably clear. What, then, has become
of the letters ?
January 28.
There is nothing new about my leave. They are very
busy to-day at Salonika. You will read the details in the
papers. The embroglio grows. What will be the end ?
No letters, no papers.
January 31.
Why should I write any more ? Yesterday you should
have had my cablegram saying that my leave has been
granted, and that I would telegraph the date of my depar-
ture. There is no good ship for eight days.
Now that you are sure I hope you will have patience.
In all my life I have scarcely ever been so upset as in these
last few days. But calm will come again with your letters.
You will tell me that you are better. I am terribly anxious
to get home.
But, dearest, I don't know how to write any more now
that we are soon to be together. In a few days we shall
282 UNCENSORED LETTERS
be in each other's arms ; and the past, so charged with
cruel evils, with sorrows unnumbered, will be forgotten.
I shall be all in all to you. I will do everything that you
wish.
It seems preferable to remain in the Midi. We will go
to Nice. A hotel on the Promenade des Anglais looking
out over the sea will be the best. As for money, we shall
be quite rich. I have always sent everything back to the
bank. If necessary we will sell some of your wonderful
War Loan bonds. We must not lack for money, what-
ever may be our whims.
There is nothing at this moment at Salonika but horrible
little ships which take eight or ten days to go to Mar-
seilles. I will wait for the Natal, of the Messageries
Maritimes, unless the Sphinx starts earlier as a hospital
ship.
Good-bye, good-bye, dearest one. Thousands and
thousands of kisses, without counting the real ones you
are to have so soon from
Your IMPATIENT LOVER.
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TON BRIDGE.
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